tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239283172024-03-23T14:28:16.946-04:00La Mia CucinaA diary of your average 40 something gal's favorite past time.. cooking! Along with a rant, a rave or a review about all things cooking related - or not! =)Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.comBlogger413125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-37093798833606590702010-05-25T11:52:00.011-04:002010-05-25T20:01:06.962-04:0055 Knives E-Cookbook Released TODAY!Hey kids, guess what?<br /><br />Today the e-cookbook, <span style="font-weight: bold;">55 Knives</span>, has been released and guess what else?? I wrote a chapter in it! Weeee!<br /><br />Me, along with 54 other incredibly talented (wayyyyyyyyy more talented than myself) food bloggers wrote a chapter each for your reading/cooking/baking enjoyment! The range of bloggers is incredible - from those that you've most likely heard of to those that maybe you haven't heard of, but should!<br /><br />What's different about this cookbook is that every blogger wrote their own chapter, so each recipe has a story behind it written in that blogger's words. Yanno, instead of just one person writing about lots of recipes from different places. So you've got some funny stuff mixed with some sentimental stuff, mixed in with some nice memories, and all of it surrounded by super delicious food!<br /><br />And if that wasn't enough - because it's an e-cookbook, there are links in every chapter that will bring you to the author's blog, their Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, if they have them, and other associated websites. Dudes ya'll could become stalkers. How fun! There are over 1000 links inside!<br /><br />It's just a really well put together book and it's cheap! Only $19! Did I mention there are also some money saving coupons for some really great stuff inside as well?<br /><br />BUT WAIT!!! THERE'S MORE!! If you buy the book between today (May 25) and next Tuesday (June 1) you'll only pay $14.. whadda deal, whadda deal! :D<br /><br />So before I direct you to the link that you can click to purchase your very own copy, I'd like to thank the man who came up with this idea, who organized all of us 55 bloggers, and then put the book together (including those 1000 links.. fo' shizzle) and published it - Nick Evans from <a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/">Macheesmo</a>. Thank you for all of your hard work, patience and guidance, Nick! You put together a beautiful book and I can't wait to see it in hardcopy one day! :D Hugs!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?ii=699186&c=ib&aff=119661&cl=116670"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 108px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUY3ydsjnvfXDyiuiZbt_NtkMh051j75UNGBW39Q6jHdWkEm7Z8jL8UrINIIeo3q36iNys_GhfBNylJCOESz7jwkkTue81Nc1ZsSHC3xu8nSvBdWPLzOPwDdYEbn-GGOGYfvYeg/s320/55knives_button5_550x186.jpg" alt="" i="" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >Special thanks to <a href="http://www.esembe.com/">Scott</a> for getting this link to work! ;)</span><br /></div><br />So click on this here pretty graphic - or click on the one on my sidebar - or head on over to The Daring Kitchen and click on the button there! Hell, I'll even have this up on my Facebook account later today/early tomorrow. I'm excited! :D<br /><br />I hope ya'll enjoy the book, truly, it's a great cookbook to own. :)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-72766062116624143042010-05-14T00:00:00.002-04:002010-05-14T00:00:00.519-04:00The Daring Cooks May 2010 - Stacked EnchiladasHi kids!<br /><br />First the good stuff.. this month's Daring Cooks' challenge!<br /><br />Our hosts this month, Barbara of <a href="http://www.barbarabakes.com/">Barbara Bakes</a> and Bunnee of <a href="http://annafood.blogspot.com/">Anna+Food</a> have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on <a href="http://www.finecooking.com/">www.finecooking.com</a> and written by Robb Walsh.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrRC4gfoyi7jEue1LOIb4CMj_nFvKIoF2OOZF_yQwqw6aVvCT6Iuyd19Dihoe5GtzgHGAWGQuViBcHgCnBx04fVo5sMmqcfo3Au2XAh1iJSqBS_jzEbbeKXhEBndHBDoE4Hmuzw/s1600/Stacked+Enchiladas+4-24-10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrRC4gfoyi7jEue1LOIb4CMj_nFvKIoF2OOZF_yQwqw6aVvCT6Iuyd19Dihoe5GtzgHGAWGQuViBcHgCnBx04fVo5sMmqcfo3Au2XAh1iJSqBS_jzEbbeKXhEBndHBDoE4Hmuzw/s400/Stacked+Enchiladas+4-24-10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464406437343781842" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The only well lit picture taken by my friend Sue :)<br /><br /></span></span></div>These were delicious.. and I had no doubt even before I made them. You could put just about any kind of Mexican/Latin food in front of me and I know it'll be delish. This recipe was straight forward and easy. My only problem was finding tomatillos. After a 1/2 a day hunt, I found 3 of them. Yes. 3. So the Green Chile Enchilada sauce happened, but I had to cut down the recipe quite a bit to accommodate my small amount of the main ingredient. That's okay though, it turned out delicious and I had enough for 2 of the 6 stacked enchiladas I made.<br /><br />The other 4 got a red sauce, which was the exact same recipe as the Green Chile Enchilada sauce, except I used 2 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes in lieu of the tomatillos. It also turned out to be mighty tasty.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48QzwoqSwkndoCqbEgRHc4vCXmFIg7ygVM6Xzm3F9TujGZSBVK4kB_IRFXH0Hf22XpNw_qTSxnIa47R0c6Ks6YNo9Q_8nEgHZaquB4GCcYCYxGmWF_BPKJb41DB-R-9igPmRhNw/s1600/IMG_3251.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48QzwoqSwkndoCqbEgRHc4vCXmFIg7ygVM6Xzm3F9TujGZSBVK4kB_IRFXH0Hf22XpNw_qTSxnIa47R0c6Ks6YNo9Q_8nEgHZaquB4GCcYCYxGmWF_BPKJb41DB-R-9igPmRhNw/s400/IMG_3251.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464406830569936562" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">First batch of Poblanos roasting over an open gas fire :D<br /><br /></span></span></div>I made 6 enchiladas as Hubbs and I were entertaining 4 of our most gorgeous and closest friends for a birthday celebration. From the response I received everyone absolutely loved the dish, and asked for the recipe. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_qUp7nzbiLhuIb1U6e_zvR81E6pFBMKs1-_XBuoqApRTDBSLfwtKYGP3iu2UmUeMALE0rOw8923KnPra666u5GEcSsysbBC_7gQNwkaNGGjpOBTkHI5mLJ7T3ghWkuoGVU1A6g/s1600/IMG_3263.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_qUp7nzbiLhuIb1U6e_zvR81E6pFBMKs1-_XBuoqApRTDBSLfwtKYGP3iu2UmUeMALE0rOw8923KnPra666u5GEcSsysbBC_7gQNwkaNGGjpOBTkHI5mLJ7T3ghWkuoGVU1A6g/s400/IMG_3263.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464407293770846194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Very poorly lit and slightly blurry photo of the Green Chile Enchilada Sauce Enchiladas<br /><br /></span></span></div>Thank you so much, Barbara & Bunnee! What a great, simple, easy to put together recipe that is very worthy of serving to guests!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAy9lKGf2CTZLl12cVU2JuNpiDUcpFpGUuYrY6f6RayGIsdpmy12bRrZaDFledYhyphenhyphenatHOs2wLvLdZr3FuQeOB_VGrdRzoVt6vgbc2twaIHIwsz5LqFAaahCT6NcwzJ6QGn4U81WQ/s1600/IMG_3267.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAy9lKGf2CTZLl12cVU2JuNpiDUcpFpGUuYrY6f6RayGIsdpmy12bRrZaDFledYhyphenhyphenatHOs2wLvLdZr3FuQeOB_VGrdRzoVt6vgbc2twaIHIwsz5LqFAaahCT6NcwzJ6QGn4U81WQ/s400/IMG_3267.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464407595258326850" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Very poorly lit and slightly blurry photo of the Red Chile Enchilada Sauce Enchiladas - hee!<br /><br /></span></span></div>Please check out the rest of the <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/cooks">Daring Cooks' spin on this recipe</a>, I'm sure ya'll will find TONS of ideas on how to make this recipe your own. :)<br /><br />Hugs!<br />xoxoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-90585932459494698562010-04-27T00:00:00.000-04:002010-04-27T00:00:04.633-04:00Traditional English "Pudding" and an AnnouncementThe April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of <a href="http://lilackitchen.blogspot.com/">The Lilac Kitchen</a>. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqDbNf0pMhFTO03nJmRv0a0lE2nlFJK124TNEXyaf2UBelVQriXCmJ-bEOqX5VBvk_kMrR6kEZFcDny44sOlkTAabVlk4G7u0q_vQ_XGcARYhv8hEev7BTyKh5vDDuzBxinwjr6A/s1600/IMG_3277.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqDbNf0pMhFTO03nJmRv0a0lE2nlFJK124TNEXyaf2UBelVQriXCmJ-bEOqX5VBvk_kMrR6kEZFcDny44sOlkTAabVlk4G7u0q_vQ_XGcARYhv8hEev7BTyKh5vDDuzBxinwjr6A/s400/IMG_3277.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464588268165216642" /></a><br />Thank God we were allowed to wimp out and use butter if we couldn't find suet and/or couldn't stomach it. I think I would have been okay with it, had I decided on making a savory pudding, but I've had this horrible gnawing chocolate craving lately that I just couldn't deny a minute longer. So I went with the <a href="http://www.puddingclub.com/wikipudia/very-chocolate-pudding">Very Chocolate Pudding</a> that lots of other members were going crazy over, and it used butter instead of suet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh0gso-uLVur2JhM8EyQXiCiZto75jbdQAT9cuL2YvBJSho3t5UpOXrn7YdZFpyjp84sQQStVqJSN5d5ZR9RLxoSDIXUdABr71YZtaEnlcGbxKsl6r6sfSy5BDFVqHo1Swd3d9w/s1600/IMG_3276.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh0gso-uLVur2JhM8EyQXiCiZto75jbdQAT9cuL2YvBJSho3t5UpOXrn7YdZFpyjp84sQQStVqJSN5d5ZR9RLxoSDIXUdABr71YZtaEnlcGbxKsl6r6sfSy5BDFVqHo1Swd3d9w/s400/IMG_3276.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464588409801079074" /></a><br />I'm torn. I absolutely LOVED learning how to steam cake.. something I'd never even thought of doing before. I would love to do this again since the only dishes I dirtied were the Kitchenaid bowl, a spatula and 4 ramekins. I didn't even bother with measuring cups since the recipe was in grams, I just measured everything on a styrofoam plate on top of my scale, then and dumped it all in. Other than for my photos, I'm not even going to have to dirty a plate, as we'll just dig right into the ramekins. Nice.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cRMWKFZLTmOSU3KEi-Kak0-TxDWVmxxaXjhKF7plXHqCuvsNzUeluJIRMt0KVbp-FZbBBuv-t5Q2x_uzDFGmnwy6lr7T3NkZ9u6UQLjwRTOf_NsFDALHZg2DOsR0AhAupEp6jw/s1600/IMG_3279.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cRMWKFZLTmOSU3KEi-Kak0-TxDWVmxxaXjhKF7plXHqCuvsNzUeluJIRMt0KVbp-FZbBBuv-t5Q2x_uzDFGmnwy6lr7T3NkZ9u6UQLjwRTOf_NsFDALHZg2DOsR0AhAupEp6jw/s400/IMG_3279.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464588675889531266" /></a><br />So why am I torn? The flavor was great.. but I over steamed. I figured for the large single pudding directions in the recipe, quartered into the ramekins, that my steam time would drop by 45 minutes. Well.. they were probably done in 30 minutes. They weren't completely dry, but they were definitely on the side of a "cakey brownie" which I don't like. I like fudgey brownies and airy cake.. so the texture didn't thrill me. But that's my fault, I should have checked them in 30 minutes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWCsndXI3pbxh_3Eo8xVRh4BAdYX8ej7W-QQZ1KBjsPq3FsIl3nXlwQSBjh3a9R5Q-6SMea2efFziGj85d2ac6THAHDbvtoDh-xBUZvxckOAGDUnc8OS3edWKuqtuncXm_jhj2w/s1600/IMG_3281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWCsndXI3pbxh_3Eo8xVRh4BAdYX8ej7W-QQZ1KBjsPq3FsIl3nXlwQSBjh3a9R5Q-6SMea2efFziGj85d2ac6THAHDbvtoDh-xBUZvxckOAGDUnc8OS3edWKuqtuncXm_jhj2w/s400/IMG_3281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464588845545415074" /></a><br />Since I don't make cake often (Lord knows I'd like to) I'm not sure the next one will be steamed or traditionally baked.. although I've seen some flavor combos and photos in the private DB forums that have <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/bakers">absolutely made my heart</a> <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/spotted-dick">flutter in envy (check out the photos in the slider!)</a>.<br /><br />Regardless though, I truly am thankful for a great lesson in steaming something other than broccoli. :D Thanks so much, Esther!!! xoxo<br /><br />I don't know why I feel the need to even announce this as most of the readers of this blog have figured it out by now, but food blogging is no longer a passion of mine. I still love LOVE LOVE to cook and occasionally bake.. but to go through the motions of taking horribly lit and out of focus photos, and then trying to come up with a witty post, when frankly, most times in ,my kitchen don't merit a giggle. <br /><br />A lot of my time is taken working on The Daring Kitchen website and working with all the wonderful people who have helped to make it the success that it is. And kids? It's fakkin exhausting to work that hard on one project and find the inspiration to work on another project that just doesn't trip your trigger any more, yanno? So I've decided to kinda cut some stress and concentrate on the DK and finally stop stressing over not updating this blog much anymore.<br /><br />You'll find an occasional post regarding a DB or DC challenge here (I've already completed my May DC challenge so it'll be up in a couple weeks), but truthfully, I'm not even really participating all that much anymore. I've decided to focus on the "behind the scenes" duties of the website, hoping to keep present and future members happy and interested in learning how to cook and bake better.<br /><br />One day the passion to create new recipes to share with ya'll might come back.. who knows.. but for now.. my mojo has pretty much dried up. ;) I am happy to say that I've not lost the passion to make a total ass of myself on the internet and have started a new non-foodie blog where I can just update whenever I want and talk about whatever I want.. once I'm comfortable with the direction it's going, I'll post a link and maybe ya'll can check it out for a giggle or two.<br /><br />Hugs!<br />xoxoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-90378189121070265412010-04-03T19:05:00.003-04:002010-04-03T19:08:57.506-04:00Last Minute Easter Ideas!Hey ya'll.. Hope everyone is well :) And a very Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate!<br /><br />I did a round-up on Foodieview.com, highlighting some amazing food ideas for a delicious Easter table.<br /><br />Check if out if you've got a minute - if not for this year, then maybe an idea will stick with you next year? :)<br /><br />Hugs!<br />xoxoxox<br /><br /><a href="http://www.foodieview.com/blog/2010/04/02/recipe-roundup-easter-delights/">Easter Round-up on Foodieview.com</a>Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-30560726617025812292010-03-23T05:16:00.005-04:002010-03-23T06:01:19.169-04:00Cound I Be Any Later?Hi! Sorry! Late! Late! No good excuse. Been a cooking/baking LAZIAC lately. My kitchen literally GASPS when I walk in it and stay for more than 5 minutes. Just haven't had any motivation to do much lately.. I think the worst part of winter for me is the end - that stage where we're at the end of winter/beginning of spring. It's always rainy and freezing and were most foodies would relish this time to get in as much rib-stickin', comfort-y, cozy cooking as they can before it gets too hot to even look at the kitchen, I get all blanket-y, book-y, give me a bag of chips & dip and maybe a package of Nutter Butters and I'm good for a month. :P<br /><br />I didn't want to miss the <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/risotto">Daring Cooks risotto challenge</a> even though it was one of the weirdest feelings I've had regarding a DK challenge. Basically, I've made risotto 4,825 times in my life. I've made homemade stock 1,397 times. So our challenge wasn't much of a challenge for me this month, yet I really, really wanted that creamy arborio rice in front of me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWbLMKLDyLoyf4PBmTB9bmhEc2u4E-WK5IRBY_9aGZTCvB1isSpSZDdaMlRVmqCC893Nn4SF9k713aKVaLlXaknZNMHWke9ywZjzTdUAZ0dBVRCEhPB3mooKif15jSp0Pa8gv8g/s1600-h/IMG_3238.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWbLMKLDyLoyf4PBmTB9bmhEc2u4E-WK5IRBY_9aGZTCvB1isSpSZDdaMlRVmqCC893Nn4SF9k713aKVaLlXaknZNMHWke9ywZjzTdUAZ0dBVRCEhPB3mooKif15jSp0Pa8gv8g/s400/IMG_3238.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451765646914223762" /></a><br />So I had to think outside the box.. I had to figure out a way to do something I haven't done or haven't done much of. So I chose to go sweet. I've made rice pudding a couple times in the past. I've made really good rice pudding in the past. But I never attempted to make it as with arborio rice and I've never experimented in making it as if I would as savory risotto dish. Meaning, instead of dumping rice in boiling water until it was cooked, and then dumping in sweetened & spiced milk until it was thick.. I decided to toast up my arborio rice in some butter first.. and then I started to ladle in the sweetened milk mixture a ladle at a time, constantly stirring until I had a rich and creamy, sweet and spicy, concoction that was just heavenly.<br /><br />Other than the way I prepared the rice, the recipe came from my little Gracie.. that baking maniac that puts pounds on my hips and ass by just reading a post on her blog. Yes, I'm talking about <a href="http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/">Peabody and her delicious culinary concoctions</a>. God love her. A couple years ago she made an <a href="http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2008/09/26/rice-rice-baby/">arborio rice pudding with stone fruit butterscotch topping</a>. As per usual, I laughed at her post, and copy/pasted the recipe into my "Gracie" folder since it tipped my "drool meter" over to tilt. But, I never made it.. so this was the perfect opportunity to try it! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6Y0Vt8byidyZKCWmhmHVKBG8Umm9YZCYrggdQOXtAXNGYB-r9crwCj6VyoJY9v8jEKDjy1hSjrcRQqAdC0pY1lUL3qC5z8AULvLxxIiOtKWfTOKDDILabTCbR74wg16lo1sLcg/s1600-h/IMG_3240.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6Y0Vt8byidyZKCWmhmHVKBG8Umm9YZCYrggdQOXtAXNGYB-r9crwCj6VyoJY9v8jEKDjy1hSjrcRQqAdC0pY1lUL3qC5z8AULvLxxIiOtKWfTOKDDILabTCbR74wg16lo1sLcg/s400/IMG_3240.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451765827110415058" /></a><br />Okay so I did make some changes, but only out of necessity. Stone fruits aren't in season where I live unless you consider the imports from Chile "in season" and you could only consider that if you like rock hard like stone fruit with no taste. Gah. So I went with a Bosc pear and raisin butterscotch topping instead. Dear sweet Jebus that is a combination to go into the books. SO DAMN GOOD! But SO DAMN SWEET! So I decided to throw some salt into the butterscotch and that rounded out the sweetness perfectly. The rice was so thick and creamy with just a hint to cinnamon and the pear/raisin/butterscotch sauce was downright sinful.<br /><br />You'll forgive my more than usual bad photos - and you'll ignore how they don't make this dessert look very appetizing - just try this.. either now with fruits that are in season, or tuck the recipe away for later in the year when the peaches and plums are at their juicy best and try it. If you like rice pudding, you'll LOVE this dessert!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNz2PzDOEN1WLJ8ZBMFiiR0wN6GMtLpxkPLFJjE57MXWTs89X67f70hAdZP5mACWiK7Vs7xUzkziNDwZ9w9Cm0hKW7PJ83ppkUqIU9D59_9aGzrHDfGtdOJx0t7tKh8uImpiYJA/s1600-h/IMG_3245.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNz2PzDOEN1WLJ8ZBMFiiR0wN6GMtLpxkPLFJjE57MXWTs89X67f70hAdZP5mACWiK7Vs7xUzkziNDwZ9w9Cm0hKW7PJ83ppkUqIU9D59_9aGzrHDfGtdOJx0t7tKh8uImpiYJA/s400/IMG_3245.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451765973436938738" /></a><br />Thanks so much to Eleanor and Jess for hosting a great challenge that was really enjoyed by so many <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/cooks">Daring Cooks</a>! And thanks to Gracie for pulling me outta my comfort zone and allowing me to experiment with one of her recipes. :)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-24500214456431153562010-02-27T18:22:00.003-05:002010-02-27T18:37:53.870-05:00Tiramisu!Hey kids.. sorry, but you probably won't be seeing a post on my <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/">Daring Baker challenge</a> this weekend. Unfortunately what I thought was a simple cold has gotten worse and it's about kicked my arse. Combine that with work and my procrastination issues and well.. no <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/tiramisu">Tiramisu</a> in my kitchen this month. :(<br /><br />I did buy all the ingredients, so I'm ready to go in that respect.. just need my nose to dry the freeg up and then figure out a way to assassinate the lil fuckers in my head who are pounding the backs of my eyeballs with sledgehammers. Gah. So we'll see.. <br /><br />In the meantime, check out the <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/bakers">Daring Bakers blogroll</a> for 1000's of creative and beautiful Tiramisu participants.. everyone did (as usual!!) an amazing job with the challenge! Huge hugs to both <a href="http://www.passionateaboutbaking.com/">Deeba</a> and <a href="http://mydiversekitchen.blogspot.com/">Aparna</a> for being wonderful hostesses this month.. they picked an awesome challenge of making homemade mascarpone and lady finger cookies! From what I've read in our private forums, <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/tiramisu">both of the recipes</a> are delicious! I REALLY want to find out for myself!<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-92029662559923200312010-02-22T05:27:00.006-05:002010-02-22T07:45:46.737-05:00The Croque-MadameI had heard of the croque-monsieur sandwich often in the past year or so.. apparently it's making the rounds in the foodie-blog world, since that's where I discover many foods I'd never heard of before. It sounded intriguing, something I might want to try one day, but nothing to add to the MUST MAKE list. I mean seriously, it's a grilled ham & cheese sammie. No big whoop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimyPgrDpuhGjPwge-gYaZazZF3QBhE2hk6x-3NoyUpoKbRxkk0EP3toXOPL2UsE9_F8Tm-1Eqv83DbR1AmSlX3-jOecOaIhYtdyNszFr8FT8VsuWhhcVvK0WTxRL8tqOjyYbQREg/s1600-h/Croque+Madame2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 355px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimyPgrDpuhGjPwge-gYaZazZF3QBhE2hk6x-3NoyUpoKbRxkk0EP3toXOPL2UsE9_F8Tm-1Eqv83DbR1AmSlX3-jOecOaIhYtdyNszFr8FT8VsuWhhcVvK0WTxRL8tqOjyYbQREg/s400/Croque+Madame2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441039105711899026" /></a><br />And then I was going through some magazine last week - for the life of me I can't remember what it was called - and saw this photo of the most awesome looking sandwich I'd ever seen. It had a fried egg on top! I don't think I've ever spoke of my obsession? fascination? complete and utter GLEE when it comes to the fried egg, specifically the yolk. But there's a twist. Yes, I love fried eggs for breakfast (or dinner) with the usual accoutrements - buttered toast, sausage or bacon, hashbrowns, you know.. heart attack on a plate? :) But this obsession - fascination - complete and utter glee that I feel when I see something topped with a friend egg, that normally wouldn't be topped with an egg.. I just.. can't find the words without sounding gross. Salivate upon seeing oozing yolk is what it is, but frankly, I just grossed myself out by saying that. Salivate and oozing really shouldn't be in the same sentence. Hopefully you yolk lovers out there will get where I'm coming from.. if not.. maybe try to block out what you've just read by closing your eyes tightly and singing LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU MISS GROSS-Y MCGROSSTER extremely loudly until the images go away. :P<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEPwVp7rtidKKgPb6n7AQx9x0AE-e739HFaLzO7K1Zy1k87NzKEzjY5ygHSCc2Ez2K2lQUuNaOr3yxX-tfCPpfhAIAeJw-S2eoxne_T3F1HiviN5AdpemNh1PegYLsDejK5F9Zg/s1600-h/Croque+Madame3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEPwVp7rtidKKgPb6n7AQx9x0AE-e739HFaLzO7K1Zy1k87NzKEzjY5ygHSCc2Ez2K2lQUuNaOr3yxX-tfCPpfhAIAeJw-S2eoxne_T3F1HiviN5AdpemNh1PegYLsDejK5F9Zg/s400/Croque+Madame3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441039252414004834" /></a><br />It was the mental vision of a crispy baked sammie loaded with cheese and that broken yolk <span style="font-style: italic;">oozing</span> (I can't stop with the fakkin oozing! Someone give me a better word for crissakes - and don't say "runny" cuz that squicks me out too!) down the side of it that had me in such a tizz.. hell it could have been a rabbit turd & peat moss sandwich and I would have been drooling all because of that egg. I once saw a salad made of greens, roasted sweet potato chunks and a big old fried egg on top and although I haven't made it YET, I still drool over the thought of it. A salad with roasted chunks of sweet potato for crissakes? All because of that <strike>ooz</strike> glorious fried egg.<br /><br />Anyhoo...<br /><br />As I read the intro to the recipe and realized it was a croque-monsieur with a fried egg thrown on top, the sandwich jettisoned to the MUST MAKE list tout de suite. So I ripped the pages out, brought it home to show hubbs and he agreed, we needed to have this for dinner ASAP.<br /><br />Basically, if ya'll haven't heard of the croque-monsieur, it's ham & cheese (usually gruyère or emmental) between two slices of bread that have been slathered with a bechamel sauce, and then more cheese on top. It's baked until the edges are lightly browned and the cheese is melty and bubbly. Once it comes out of the oven, you slap a fried egg on top to create the croque-<em>madame</em>, throw a nice salad next to it and call it heaven on a plate.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuF9gJKMUMSBuusE_useLdBPY1uHrHECSfGI3LFgD3nk4gMENFzS4a4Lj2Ys63XmzGN4ug6hXvKyvyRv255Shq1QmIs3mnk45Dh0dnZ2z35hOMaxcbqRK468zbGgVSLNIxcn6RXw/s1600-h/Croque+Madame1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuF9gJKMUMSBuusE_useLdBPY1uHrHECSfGI3LFgD3nk4gMENFzS4a4Lj2Ys63XmzGN4ug6hXvKyvyRv255Shq1QmIs3mnk45Dh0dnZ2z35hOMaxcbqRK468zbGgVSLNIxcn6RXw/s400/Croque+Madame1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441039389430441570" /></a><br />I made a few changes to the recipe. I couldn't find the <a href="http://www.nextstop.com/p/A-JGjvLBzEQ/jambon-de-paris/">jambon de Paris</a> ham it called for, so I used prosciutto. I'm not a big bechamel sauce by itself kinda gal, so I decided to doctor it up by tossing in a couple generous handfuls of gruyère (I still had quite a bit left over from <a href="http://llcskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/ohmygod-wheres-flaccid-sea-creature.html">the bread</a>) and just the barest peench of ground mustard. I used a loaf of French miche, which I bought at <a href="http://www.panerabread.com/menu/bakery/breads.php">Panera</a> - miche, I assume, means fakking huge. It's a very large square loaf of French bread just perfect for grilling, baking, toasting and of course, making a croque-madame. :)<br /><br />Hubbs made a cucumber, tomato, olive & red onion salad in balsamic vinaigrette to go with and I think that's really a must. At least for us.. this sammie is rich, kids. It definitely needs a salad or other light side with it. I had considered frying potatoes & onions, making our dinner more breakfast-like, but am glad that I didn't. <br /><br />So who doesn't like a ham & cheese sammie, eh? I like them, they are O.K., not my favorite but I've eaten many in my day. Who hasn't? Feel about the same way? Kinda meh? Yeah well.. make this kicked up hot ham & cheese sandwich and I doubt you'll ever go back to the usual. We were both amazed at how good this was. Admittedly, the prosciutto wasn't the right ham. It was too salty, but that still didn't take away much from the sandwich in whole. And it was fun to eat a "gourmet" hot ham & cheese with a fork & knife! I suppose you could pick it up and eat it as you would any other sammie, but it'd be kinda messy.. but hey, if that's your thing, go for it. ;)<br /><br />I urge you all to go out and buy a good ham that's not too salty, a big chunk of gruyère or emmental (I'm sure Swiss would be just fine) and a dozen eggs and get to making this for your dinner this week - and then throw it into your rotation every once in a while. It's a bit of a splurge both in price and calories, but you won't be sorry after you take that first bite. Trust me. SO. FAKKIN. GOOD.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIvdLeqf8ZB4YiIgGZQ-4AHK9vKP-KH7-Q4P8UgJglbqrEfZ980M3xd42itwIZYjpewALlG7VSrXuf37y9ji-1jbULDchjsWGk-AefQvS5iOKrfjkghxzvGAtlafGrvRcfKJvQw/s1600-h/Croque+Madame4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIvdLeqf8ZB4YiIgGZQ-4AHK9vKP-KH7-Q4P8UgJglbqrEfZ980M3xd42itwIZYjpewALlG7VSrXuf37y9ji-1jbULDchjsWGk-AefQvS5iOKrfjkghxzvGAtlafGrvRcfKJvQw/s400/Croque+Madame4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441039560296103874" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Croque Monsieur or Madame</span><br /><br />Serves 4<br /><br />For Bechamel sauce:<br /><br />3 TBS. butter<br />1/4 c. all-purpose flour<br />3 c. whole milk (I used fat-free and it came out just fine)<br />Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg<br />Salt & white ground pepper to taste<br /><br />For the sandwiches:<br /><br />8 slices high-quality bread. (the recipe called for "Pullman" loaf, I used French) sliced 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. <br />12 oz. thinly sliced jambon de Paris (high quality wet-cured ham, not too salty)<br />10 oz. Gruyère cheese, coarsely grated<br />4 whole eggs (for the madame)<br /><br />Over low heat, in a small saucepan, melt butter then whisk in flour until blended. Continue to whisk while pouring in milk to avoid lumps. Continue to cook, stirring constantly until thickened. This should take about 10 minutes. <span style="font-style:italic;">(If you are only making enough for 2 the sauce thickened within 2 minutes)</span> Once thickened, season with nutmeg, salt & pepper. <span style="font-style:italic;">(This is where I added a couple handfuls of grated gruyère and the smallest pinch of ground mustard)</span> Take off heat, set aside.<br /><br />The recipe says you can make the bechamel sauce up to 24 hours early. Place plastic wrap directly on the sauce so it won't form a skin, then refrigerate. Gently reheat a few minutes before you are going to use it.<br /><br />Preheat the oven to 400º F. <br /><br />Place the 8 slices of bread in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Spread the bechamel sauce evenly to the edges of all the slices (you may not need all of the bechamel). Divide ham between only 4 slices covered with bechamel, keeping the ham within 1/4 inch of the edges. <br /><br />Top all 8 slices with equal amounts of grated gruyère cheese, again spreading it evenly within 1/4 inch of the edges. Place the 4 slices with bechamel and cheese (cheese side up!) on top of the slices layered with ham. Bake until cheese topping is melted and golden brown about 10 to 15 minutes (it took about 20 minutes in my oven)<br /><br />To make the croque-madame, fry 4 eggs sunny-side up <span style="font-style:italic;">(I went with over easy, because egg slime is A VERY BAD THING)</span> and place one on top of each sandwich. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and serve immediately.<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-82362560072967178382010-02-15T16:53:00.005-05:002010-02-15T18:01:23.844-05:00OHMYGOD - Where's The Flaccid Sea Creature??Kids! I don't know what the hell has possessed me, but I've baked. And not for a Daring Baker's challenge, either. I baked on my own. WTF? Here's what I'm thinking.. ya'll should run out and buy lots of bottled water, saltine crackers, canned goods and toilet paper (never be without toilet paper!!). Dig yourself an underground shelter in the back yard and prepare yourself for some kind of natural disaster. <br /><br />I don’t bake unless it’s a DB challenge! Something bad is surely going to happen! And bread! Lord almighty I NEVER bake bread on a whim or on my own - NEVER. This disaster is going to be a doozy – I’m tellin’ yas!<br /><br />Wait.. don’t go getting all panic stricken just yet. I still have my usually long ass story to tell. Come back. Sit down. Join me in a glass (or twelve) of your favorite alcoholic beverage.. believe me, it’ll calm those shaking hands. Or is it just my hands that are shaking? Whatev.<br /><br />Anyhoo, something made me finally bake <a href="http://llcskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-happens-when-bakeanista-crosses.html">THIS RECIPE</a> again. Go look. Because if you don't go look you won't understand what a wonderment this baking adventure was. Seriously. GO. LOOK.<br /><br />Did I lie? Is that not the most frightening things you've ever seen? It's like science fiction and pornography combined. And I ate those bad boys. All 4 of them. In like a week. If even. It was the best damn cheesy bread I've ever had and at that juncture in my life I didn't think anything could be as good as <a href="http://www.panerabread.com/menu/bakery/breads.php">Panera's Asiago bread</a>. But those 4 cheesy baked monstrosities were phenomenal. I kept saying that I would make them again.. but baking is sooooooooo fakking stressful for me. The Baking Gods hate my ever-livin guts. They laugh at me at every occasion. They mock me at the drop of a hat. They sneer and point at me while whispering behind my back. I don't know what the fakk I ever did to piss them off, but I obviously did.<br /><br />And now, what? 2 years later? Something possesses me to make them again. I made the starter last Thursday night. I was unsure how far ahead you can make a starter, so I enlisted the advice of my <a href="http://www.breadchick.com/">bread baking guru</a>, Mary. She told me I can make it a few days ahead, which eased some pressure as I knew I wanted to make it this weekend, but was unsure of the exact day. HAR! Yeah.. in other words - how long could I procrastinate before my started died and I chickened out? Gah.<br /><br />Well.. come to find out the Baking Gods were watching - AS PER FUCKING USUAL. You see, the recipe calls for instant yeast. I didn't even comprehend that.. I used active yeast. So after 15+ hours (I had to work on Friday), it hadn't gotten very bubbly and pretty much looked just like a wad of dough. Not good. So I got on the King Arthur website and with an expert. It was immediately pointed out that I used the wrong yeast. Duh. I thanked her and then realized…<br />Baking Gods – 1 / Lisa – BIGFATFUCKINGZERO.<br /><br />I didn't have instant yeast, so I sweet talked my beloved Hubbs into running out to get me some. Bless his cotton socks. Soon I had the correct yeast and more bread flour. I started again - this time around 6 a.m. Saturday morning. I figured it’d be good to go around 2ish that afternoon, then I’d make the dough and allow it to rise until Sunday morning. Way longer than what’s called for, but I’ve read that if you let your dough rise for a long time, the better the flavor of the bread.. and hell, any excuse to actually put off baking it. Yeah, the memory of the smoke detector going off and black billowy smoke spewing from my oven the last time I made this bread was pretty damn strong.<br /><br />Well my powers of procrastination are pretty damn.. uhmm.. powerful. I managed to conveniently “forget” the starter on Saturday afternoon. And Saturday night. On Sunday morning I remembered it and said to myself, “Hey dipshit, you need to make the bread today.” And then I blocked it out again. I had plans with my girlie friends to go shopping at Trader Joe’s.. and I’ve been out of <a href="http://www.traderjoesfan.com/Trader_Joes/tejava/details/">Tejava</a> tea for a month. Nectar of the (non-baking) Gods, I tell ya! So my mind was conveniently “elsewhere”. :P<br /><br />When I got home Sunday afternoon, I put away the groceries, poured myself a big glass of tea and got the flour out. I was going to make the dough! Go me! Making the dough took roughly 5 minutes. Mmmm hmm… 5 whole fakking minutes of my time. A spare 5 minutes that I just couldn’t seem to find all day Saturday and most of Sunday. You see this is how my mind works. And believe me, I know I ain’t right. Knowing full well how delicious the bread would end up, I still did everything I could to drag my big fat feet in making it. It’s like I’m a glutton for my own punishment. What. The. Freeg?<br /><br />Before I went to bed Sunday night, I punched the dough down because obviously I wasn’t going to make the bread. Today was a rare morning.. I actually woke up after my husband. That happens maybe twice a year? And I’m usually sick.. but whatev, I woke up later and the first thing out of his mouth wasn’t the usual grumble-speak “mrn’ng” or even “is the princess FINALLY up?” it was, “My goodness, doesn’t that freshly baked bread smell delicious?” What an ass. This was his way of telling me that the dough had been sitting out far too long and if I was going to bake bread then I better shit or get off the pot. Visual there.. sorry. Moving along..<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tBHZtL1QWMxvFjfeP2EPfKrGxObLXEDnHaPG5WbMeXHHrux_pplgFuEJBiDKjOTqOpKaIsMc-3CH1sN6gXUZQoa39d24xt2zRdDGeaMgfkh02E50R-_auhwzwgNH9ZJn_AKouw/s1600-h/mosaic4469093651988719b5e1aedf6420120a328b033d.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tBHZtL1QWMxvFjfeP2EPfKrGxObLXEDnHaPG5WbMeXHHrux_pplgFuEJBiDKjOTqOpKaIsMc-3CH1sN6gXUZQoa39d24xt2zRdDGeaMgfkh02E50R-_auhwzwgNH9ZJn_AKouw/s400/mosaic4469093651988719b5e1aedf6420120a328b033d.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438608374653722082" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A lovely collage of basically the same photo of the mini loaves/buns.. *slurp*</span></span><br /></div><br />I finally made my bread today. FOUR days after making the first batch of starter. FOUR. I had made two batches of dough so that I could make the mini “loaves” and a couple regular sized loaves. This time I cut the mini loaves much thinner.. and they came out more like bun size, which was perfect. Smaller means that the insides can’t rise out from the base reminiscent of the alien bursting out of that guy’s chest. I didn’t make flaccid geoduck/penis this time. They turned out bakery beautiful! I was AMAZED. I know today is a holiday for us in the US, but uhmm.. is this also a holiday for the Baking Gods? Or did I just take so damn long that I fooled them into believing that I’d never actually bake the dough?? Either way.. it all turned out great! Even the regular sized loaves, which I was unsure of because I hadn’t attempted that last time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDWpPorUz7mOfufLHaYKR71vZNBVHUNrHd99McpLZ-HpQ5_AN_79sLrfJHfNJG9i9n_KQcz4bIUv0mcbJQZ7xYFgjwpRCeyzMJwShJMIWHXlpaH1ogCi5rEfj465gN9XMJLguBw/s1600-h/IMG_3228.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 313px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDWpPorUz7mOfufLHaYKR71vZNBVHUNrHd99McpLZ-HpQ5_AN_79sLrfJHfNJG9i9n_KQcz4bIUv0mcbJQZ7xYFgjwpRCeyzMJwShJMIWHXlpaH1ogCi5rEfj465gN9XMJLguBw/s400/IMG_3228.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438608697345221170" border="0" /></a><br />Today is a day to mark on the books. Today I BEAT THE SHITE out of the Baking Gods. Today I made myself proud. Today something horrible is going to happen.. so really now.. get off your asses and start digging up your back yard. You can thank me for the head’s up after it’s all over. ;)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-2773990283420626822010-02-14T00:00:00.000-05:002010-02-14T00:00:02.123-05:00Mezze - It's What's for DinnerThe 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/users/mdurante">Michele</a> of <a href="http://www.veggienumnums.com/">Veggie Num Nums</a>. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSCxRg96cz7N-PXLUNTqqlsm0PD3UL3GwsID2V_okoomO8e63CYx4v-QFVcJhV8SrZobuiJaoi00SIwbflheirJpxZxMph7CDGRJpsVFOAAgy2voavAnBziTUDAXgjK3LkV6uCw/s1600-h/Mezze+Motivational.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSCxRg96cz7N-PXLUNTqqlsm0PD3UL3GwsID2V_okoomO8e63CYx4v-QFVcJhV8SrZobuiJaoi00SIwbflheirJpxZxMph7CDGRJpsVFOAAgy2voavAnBziTUDAXgjK3LkV6uCw/s400/Mezze+Motivational.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437853106325616962" /></a><br />This month's Daring Cook's challenge brought a whole new culture into my life. I've never eaten ANYTHING Middle Eastern before, although my sister loves it and has been telling me for months that I need to try it. I have to admit, Middle Eastern fare, never really thrilled me because when I think of that kind of food, I think of beans. *shudder* Chickpeas, lentils, black beans.. all of those lil pasty tastin' legumes. If you're new to this here lil blog, then you might not know of my strong dislike of beans. Frankly, I'd rather eat live bees. ;)<br /><br />But I am happy to say that I was completely wrong, which is nothing new. :P Yes, Middle Eastern food does contain beans, but there is so much of a variety of other foods - I had no idea! I wanted my Mezze to be special, so I called upon my home girls. My G's, if you will. June, Blimey & Amy - 3 of my favorite people in alla world. As per usual, they were up for it and all agreed to find a Middle Eastern recipe to bring to the party. Yay!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoxe4ob2QbdsXpbrUhI91_RcazXseAZda8TjJyXjZTw5cjzTcKIt-Jk1Y-udClmExJ3FAoay7bZBUnkLO0mEPvUppPfJoaNRtsyVi_mL3pBJpcIMURB3t3Cg68zyAktChu8z3FQ/s1600-h/mosaic93f4379f2ab18177143494cc77f891adf236bcaf.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoxe4ob2QbdsXpbrUhI91_RcazXseAZda8TjJyXjZTw5cjzTcKIt-Jk1Y-udClmExJ3FAoay7bZBUnkLO0mEPvUppPfJoaNRtsyVi_mL3pBJpcIMURB3t3Cg68zyAktChu8z3FQ/s400/mosaic93f4379f2ab18177143494cc77f891adf236bcaf.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437853974141055634" /></a><br />I decided to make a cold Lebanese carrot salad, green beans (one of the few that I'll eat) Lebanese style, Kalamata olive tapenade as well as the mandatory hummus and pita bread. June brought a delicious Tabouli and Amy brought a refreshing and really delicious cucumber Raita. Unfortunately, Blimey got sick so she couldn't join us, and we missed her tremendously.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfPpei_dIMhi-ydr_TQd2NyRiYOYi80pMvv4lKJ6tS6_ZS4q-teSrQIqPWz69MqmDnljvV3LMulkgygcKHLh2xklcVMusv47dlbR786Fxl-OE5MvtC52_zEKc3LLWg-3zz4n_5A/s1600-h/mosaice73b45aab952923af59308044eb16bbb659d9249.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfPpei_dIMhi-ydr_TQd2NyRiYOYi80pMvv4lKJ6tS6_ZS4q-teSrQIqPWz69MqmDnljvV3LMulkgygcKHLh2xklcVMusv47dlbR786Fxl-OE5MvtC52_zEKc3LLWg-3zz4n_5A/s400/mosaice73b45aab952923af59308044eb16bbb659d9249.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437854124279328786" /></a><br />We piled everything onto the kitchen table and started eating immediately. SO GOOD! My absolute favorite was the green beans Lebanese style. Holy cow, I could eat that daily. I wouldn't even share much of the left overs with the gals because I HAD. TO. HAVE. IT. the next night with a roasted chicken. Delish! I really enjoyed the small bites of everything.. and liked to combine different dishes to see what went best with what. My favorite combo was a lil Kalamata tapenade on some pita followed with a lil dab of cucumber Raita. Salty with a nice tang. *slurp*<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77iPOzm3xeI_MaBgy1wixwd89WVkWAhbAJ1-EemIGaLeNGBw_uWkL3p2pHfZTC6OW2aJZmk23P5zmcrvyT2qeVUavVIh3RKF0DkBAhGO84Sdq6J_MdcPd7sUTuYba5Y7dnkcdxQ/s1600-h/mosaica8397cf746df63d1159ae63c844f4efccf88b2dc.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77iPOzm3xeI_MaBgy1wixwd89WVkWAhbAJ1-EemIGaLeNGBw_uWkL3p2pHfZTC6OW2aJZmk23P5zmcrvyT2qeVUavVIh3RKF0DkBAhGO84Sdq6J_MdcPd7sUTuYba5Y7dnkcdxQ/s400/mosaica8397cf746df63d1159ae63c844f4efccf88b2dc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437854809755180386" /></a><br />As for cooking this feast - no problems really at all. I got a lil nervous when my pita didn't balloon up like Audax's and it didn't really brown up on top. The bottoms browned up nicely though. And although parts were flat and parts were bubbly it was really good pita. June was the resident Middle Eastern connoisseur and she said the pita was excellent and she loved the other dishes as well. Score! I know it was good food because I realized afterward that we had no meat and didn't even miss it! It wasn't consciously planned that way, but since it happened, I'm going to say we dedicated our vegetarian dinner to Michele. :D<br /><br />Eating this way is definitely fun - true party food. Next I want to do a Tapas night and then a dim sum night.. I'm looking forward! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhF2WHKGwK7Dm2f-80YlMGiT1mP1rKQT1rmdrzib5akefCHobqJWHGlg48vkgn9JWtPcA7s14GrKDrCDmjExRbj0mt6VvMb25fly9oLBXhx9Gk9Ay5NAMBnTM1oZoIj6Q1P-g7A/s1600-h/mosaice3adecc172a10d884df01e9829b65dc82bb97da6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhF2WHKGwK7Dm2f-80YlMGiT1mP1rKQT1rmdrzib5akefCHobqJWHGlg48vkgn9JWtPcA7s14GrKDrCDmjExRbj0mt6VvMb25fly9oLBXhx9Gk9Ay5NAMBnTM1oZoIj6Q1P-g7A/s400/mosaice3adecc172a10d884df01e9829b65dc82bb97da6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437854354269117330" /></a><br />Michele, thanks so much for turning me on to this delicious food and showing me how easy it is to make pita bread! I'll definitely be making it again! You did an excellent job hosting! Love you! <br /><br />Check out all the rest of the amazing Mezze feasts from our <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/cooks">Daring Cook troops</a>! Just seeing what they've uploaded to the forums makes me all kinds of hungry for Mezze all over again! ;)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-11870651625185296852010-02-11T08:50:00.014-05:002010-02-11T15:42:32.926-05:00Donuts. Is There Anything They Can't Do?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLFyhlxlOJ2kfWDLmOwLeINcKQlgCS6V2D7Wjv5rIanr6tKXrmWYRt__DCW2S4VIdoqe4fQWtE87_-7lCVA8EB_fNyFwFntjF2XpZ7xJ1I6gSyulicSZxWYNUZHvTgk5BgLrUQg/s1600-h/IMG_3198.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLFyhlxlOJ2kfWDLmOwLeINcKQlgCS6V2D7Wjv5rIanr6tKXrmWYRt__DCW2S4VIdoqe4fQWtE87_-7lCVA8EB_fNyFwFntjF2XpZ7xJ1I6gSyulicSZxWYNUZHvTgk5BgLrUQg/s400/IMG_3198.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437021184920481714" /></a><br />A few weeks ago, my friend <a href="http://veggienumnums.com">Michele</a> and I were talking about recipes and doughnuts came up, like they eventually always do if you're having a conversation with me. :P Ahh yes, I love me my doughnuts. But I won't let myself eat them very often. *sigh* I know how bad they are because of their deliciousness. Anything that tastes that good is definitely a heart attack or stroke disguised in fluffy goodness covered in powdery sugar or chocolate. Or maple. Or bacon. Or cinnamon sugar. Or whipped cream. Or just plain for those days when you're trying to eat healthy. ;)<br /><br />So we decided that we must make homemade donuts. This past Sunday was D-day. I went with <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/yeast-doughnuts-recipe/index.html">Alton Brown's recipe</a>. I was a little nervous because, yanno, Alton can bring in a lil too much science. But the recipe was straightforward, thank the baby Jebus. The only problems I ran into were bad timing and way too hot oil. The timing thing - you need to heat milk to melt the shortening. Then you have to wait until it cools to lukewarm because you'll be mixing it with the water/yeast mixture. Well the *first* time I did it, I started to heat my milk and immediately poured my yeast into the lukewarm water, not taking into account that after the milk melts the shortening it'll take some time for it to cool off enough to add it to the yeast. Doh!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIA3iiHLkcZmxZgTWl2ROxAL5tHt-x2PgNQuQ3gK1yR6CPXSoZZKK2HO6ua3FX9t9LNd5MYp0QglfzFe0QDlpMVLsaUFaCGtr11tkRkMmx2L__ppcNlOwnDLGCRkUvdYyr0igIg/s1600-h/IMG_3201.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIA3iiHLkcZmxZgTWl2ROxAL5tHt-x2PgNQuQ3gK1yR6CPXSoZZKK2HO6ua3FX9t9LNd5MYp0QglfzFe0QDlpMVLsaUFaCGtr11tkRkMmx2L__ppcNlOwnDLGCRkUvdYyr0igIg/s400/IMG_3201.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437021355209193826" /></a><br />You wouldn't believe how fakkin long it takes for hot milk to cool the fug down. Jebus. My yeast/water mixture had already bubbled and was sitting on the bottom of my very cold metal Kitchenaid bowl. If you listened closely enough you could hear their itty bitty teeth chattering and their itsy bitsy knees knockin'. :( I was blowin' on the milk.. fanning it with a kitchen towel.. put it in the fridge for 10 minutes.. the bottom of the bowl wouldn't cool off. I mean this stuff was HOT. So finally, we (Hubbs was present) decided to put the damn bowl out in a snow drift. I mean, seriously. It's not like we were trying to cool off GALLONS of milk.. it was just a cup or so for crissakes, but it wouldn't cool down.<br /><br />And no, this had nothing to do with my desire to be eating warm, fluffy, mouth-wateringly, rings of yumminess. Much. 'kay well maybe it had a lot to do with my impatience over having to wait for the prize, but I tell you - that milk was volcano hot. Outside it went. :P<br /><br />Okay well what are two people to do while waiting on milk to cool? They get all caught up in Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl VI is what they do. We couldn't peel our eyes away from the cuteness if we tried. OHMYGOD. Chubby puppy bellies! Wagging puppy tails! Floppy puppy ears!!! Much more delicious than any doughnut! And when we finally did remember there was molten hot milk sitting in a snow drift on our back deck, this gal jumped up immediately, tripped over her dog, caught herself before completing a full face plant into the arm of the loveseat and then promptly tripped over the blanket she had been cuddled under while watching oodles of puppies attacking each other and stuffed footballs. That was more exercise than I've had in weeks. GAH.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQKu_kafHQjLEzTbGbiQcJY8QKVcVRP_6OvH8_U-X5RVNXfY26vOgpqK22T6iFPmpnphnqogS1FE1bs0cNbIVjOm3JCzAhECH93B40ANDvx9waX7pUleyNHwMWi78i3ovWF6wNw/s1600-h/IMG_3202.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQKu_kafHQjLEzTbGbiQcJY8QKVcVRP_6OvH8_U-X5RVNXfY26vOgpqK22T6iFPmpnphnqogS1FE1bs0cNbIVjOm3JCzAhECH93B40ANDvx9waX7pUleyNHwMWi78i3ovWF6wNw/s400/IMG_3202.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437021570015760530" /></a><br />As you might have guessed, the shortening was no longer liquefied. It sat in greasy lumps in the ICE COLD milk. Mmm hmmm...<br /><br />Meanwhile.. my yeast had passed on to the great bread bakery in the sky. It was a pitiful scene. No bubbles. Just murky muck sitting on the bottom of the bowl. *sigh*<br /><br />So I cleaned up my lil yeasty dead soldiers, put the milk back on the burner until the shortening JUST started to melt. Waited 10 minutes and THEN brought yeast and lukewarm water back together again.<br /><br />After all of that, putting the dough together was a snap. The waiting was the hard part.. at one point I felt like standing in front of the bowl containing the dough ball and screaming "HURRY THE FAKK UP FOR CRISSAKES!! DOUGHNUTS! HUNGRY! NOM NOM NOM!!!" <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnT85zLeo24JD3nHfgQ011cV0JdYLCkGH6gylOAXENDBmCoc_pK0rvcecB55_oCadwx0dNQ_tcTUQPRCwGgxdCqUYYijnuE7AR6nFqVJ2LVoPqUpd1hizqx2hE7DDaMIdBiXL5DA/s1600-h/IMG_3206.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnT85zLeo24JD3nHfgQ011cV0JdYLCkGH6gylOAXENDBmCoc_pK0rvcecB55_oCadwx0dNQ_tcTUQPRCwGgxdCqUYYijnuE7AR6nFqVJ2LVoPqUpd1hizqx2hE7DDaMIdBiXL5DA/s400/IMG_3206.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437021819767684370" /></a><br />Once I had them shaped and rising the last time, I heated my oil in a wok. I knew it was kinda hot, but I didn't want a greasy doughnut, so I figured a little hotter than it called for would be a good thing. And it was. Although they came out a little darker than you'd see in a doughnut shop, they weren't burnt or greasy. They were light and fluffy and uber delish. I did a good job of refraining from putting a platter on the table, throwing my hair up into a ponytail, putting my hands behind my back and doing my best impression of a pig feeding in the trough. It was hard though. Delicious homemade doughnuts, still warm and covered in cinnamon sugar.. OH. MY. GOD. SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD.<br /><br />It's super easy to make doughnuts and home and really the waiting isn't all that bad - 1.5 hours total rise time is all it calls for. You can make several varieties with one batch of dough and depending on size, you can get quite a few doughnuts. The only way I can describe the size of mine is they were the size of doughnuts you buy prepackaged in a grocery store.. like from Pepperidge Farms if anyone is familiar. I didn't have a doughnut cutter, nor even a round cutter. So I used a wine glass and to cut the middles out, I used the cap of a 2 liter bottle of soda. HAR! Worked like a charm! :) I used the scraps to make twists. We were going to fill some of them, but that didn't happen for whatever reason. I know these doughnuts freeze well too. Course I wouldn't know that from this experience. I packaged them in freezer bags and left on the counter overnight because it was too dark for photos after they came out of the oil. And after I took photos the next day, I put them back into the bags and then something else caught my attention.. Oh look! A chicken! That night they were pretty much stale. So eat 'em quick or freeze 'em soon!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlyqIGX1LtcKsJAWFKNKde-adoQ3pSbq_oqBg_Hgybx3RUJjewvNJRq02U7C_HVvYJzFnX2h9KopzenKsfYHfYp1i-dLUysVQfS6iZWxsbQTob4e5hKffDIp76qGIxkbVtj5Chw/s1600-h/IMG_3204.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlyqIGX1LtcKsJAWFKNKde-adoQ3pSbq_oqBg_Hgybx3RUJjewvNJRq02U7C_HVvYJzFnX2h9KopzenKsfYHfYp1i-dLUysVQfS6iZWxsbQTob4e5hKffDIp76qGIxkbVtj5Chw/s400/IMG_3204.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437022083999681666" /></a><br />Go check out <a href="http://www.veggienumnums.com/">Michele's</a> doughnuts! She filled hers with yummy stuff! :)<br /><br />xoxoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-56416992849631897082010-01-28T18:44:00.008-05:002010-01-28T19:57:38.386-05:00I Baked For Shaun White!Okay not really.. but he's the only winter Olympian that I know of. And frankly, I'm not even sure he's in the Olympics this year.. is he? What I do know is I like his long wavy red hair. But I probably shouldn't say that out loud as I'm most likely old enough to be his Aunt. *cough*<br /><br />Anyhoo.. as per usual, I'm a day late and a dollar short. And once again I feel foolish because of it. This month's Daring Baker challenge was a breeze and the results were muy deliciouso! Wait, that's Spanish.. what would the Canadians say? Uhmm.. 'kay.. well.. the results were KICK ASS! (that's more of what I'd say because I don't know what a Canuck would say. Canuck.. is that PC?)<br /><br />The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/users/lauren">Lauren</a> of <a href="http://www.celiacteen.com/">Celiac Teen</a>. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca. <br /><br />Lauren is from Canada and these Nanaimo bars are her tribute to the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK7XyzLfjsoQfk8zmyAHwLkJGVSsLeTWI_44SQ-qKE1wYgl7dOheasVoj_VhoKMQvIb0Hr77ymorjAgaWIYSPgxZKiWauCl94PgFkTWZo-ttlJeZaPn-3WvGYurkzRyg5n57GVEA/s1600-h/01-27-10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK7XyzLfjsoQfk8zmyAHwLkJGVSsLeTWI_44SQ-qKE1wYgl7dOheasVoj_VhoKMQvIb0Hr77ymorjAgaWIYSPgxZKiWauCl94PgFkTWZo-ttlJeZaPn-3WvGYurkzRyg5n57GVEA/s400/01-27-10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431955762594617410" /></a><br />Here's a funny.. and he's probably going to kill me.. but I received an email this morning from my friend <a href="http://sleepingbearinthekitchen.wordpress.com">John</a> who had to tell me that while he was making his dough for the graham crackers he noticed that it smelled like graham crackers. And then he said, "Really?? You think??." Yes Gorgeous, the dough DOES smell like graham crackers and after baked, they taste better than any graham cracker I've ever had. Addicting is the word. More like Graham Crack. I kept hearing, er, reading in the forums that other members couldn't stop eating the graham crackers and my friend <a href="http:/veggienumnums.blogspot.com">Michele</a> said the same thing - but I had NO. IDEA. HOW. GOOD. they really are. I was almost sad to have to crumble a bunch of them for the Nanaimo bars. Seriously.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFAN6gLORM1GyY4oGMD_QHiMDfsdsM3_WyA3qHmHuBCeTaH4WPOszvjVeWzuf1nGB4k05mM3mZ8e1W3wN6lD2RnyOqIWix_Jx1_XEnG-0Amc8Afs1P0ye1qrLFwPNn1xArNIQSiA/s1600-h/01-27-10+(4).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFAN6gLORM1GyY4oGMD_QHiMDfsdsM3_WyA3qHmHuBCeTaH4WPOszvjVeWzuf1nGB4k05mM3mZ8e1W3wN6lD2RnyOqIWix_Jx1_XEnG-0Amc8Afs1P0ye1qrLFwPNn1xArNIQSiA/s400/01-27-10+(4).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431955929238654690" /></a><br />But I did.. and then I kinda veered off the traditional route and went down my own road. I've made Nanaimo bars before and they were delish, you'll get no argument from me there. But they were a leeetle sweet so this time I wanted to make all of the components but in different flavors - specifically flavors that aren't as sweet. I started with the graham cracker crust, and omitted the nuts as we can't eat them. I also ground the coconut to almost a powder because I had to hide it as Hubbs hates coconut with a passion. He'll eat stuff flavored with coconut but hates real coconut. Go figger. And I added a generous peench of cinnamon. What I didn't do was add the cocoa. This was entirely an accident. I was so intent on grinding down that coconut and getting it into the crust before he came back into the kitchen that I completely forgot the damn cocoa. I really did want a chocolate crust.<br /><br />Then I moved on to the filling, which is what I found too sweet in the traditional bars. I decided I wanted a blast of coffee with the tang of cheese. Ideally I was going to do mascarpone/butter cream frosting flavored with espresso powder. But I never got the chance to get the mascarpone, so I had to do with cream cheese. Basically I made cream cheese frosting sans most of the sugar - I probably used 1/3 of what a basic cream cheese frosting would call for, then thinned it a bit with a boat load of espresso powder stirred into a small amount of hot heavy whipping cream. I can't find the words to express how fakking good it turned out and I really can't wait to use it on a cake! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZms6PEZYFnYNNdLezxmGSWjbggh4Yy22zHEH9v71dqqXgs7P82k_NLlruyEzTtNlTr3lzC6UxP7aYoVNGNejLRnGi-_jn3bVh1vMQUgwuMn56FdXxM5Bpso3azBMmy-4oit3R-A/s1600-h/01-27-10+(5).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZms6PEZYFnYNNdLezxmGSWjbggh4Yy22zHEH9v71dqqXgs7P82k_NLlruyEzTtNlTr3lzC6UxP7aYoVNGNejLRnGi-_jn3bVh1vMQUgwuMn56FdXxM5Bpso3azBMmy-4oit3R-A/s400/01-27-10+(5).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431956107994031922" /></a><br />For the topping, ya'll know me, right? I don't say no to any kind of chocolate unless it's white - which is not chocolate anyways. BUT just a few weeks ago, I made a pan of what is essentially buckeyes (the lil round gobs of delicious sweetened peanut butter dipped in chocolate), but instead of rolling out the peanut butter into balls, because I'm a lazy mofo, I just spread it into an 8 x 8 pan and poured the chocolate over it. After refrigerating the chocolate became hard (duh) and well.. after forcing myself to eat 3/4 of the pan myself, I was kinda over hard chocolate with something mooshey underneath. :P So I went with a basic ganache over the top of my coffee/cream cheese filling.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3E4m1o4bQKodGrFfFzq6IE8_8JrFTgjDI2lvp_40YnwpElbYJlTbp_WlEHVEnBELnz1LB7SuyS8-v-3ryAR6AldNSvecdO5vengYl5g8PSiOQczuLWFQnTIv2GU2jA0p4fqqUsg/s1600-h/01-27-10+(6).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3E4m1o4bQKodGrFfFzq6IE8_8JrFTgjDI2lvp_40YnwpElbYJlTbp_WlEHVEnBELnz1LB7SuyS8-v-3ryAR6AldNSvecdO5vengYl5g8PSiOQczuLWFQnTIv2GU2jA0p4fqqUsg/s400/01-27-10+(6).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431956295527044658" /></a><br />As you can see in this picture, there is a bite taken. That is the one and only taste of these that I've had (so far) and it took every fiber of restraint in this chubby body of mine to stop there to rush into my office to write this post a day late. And keep in mind, I don't own very many restraint fibers. :P Holy mother of a chinless baboon, these bars are FANFARKINGTASTIC. They aren't nearly as sweet as the traditional Nanaimo bars, but they are definitely rich, and I'm confident that I can get over that. :P The cinnamon & coconut in the crust paired with the coffee and chocolate and the tang of the cream cheese is nothing if not heavenly.<br /><br />Lauren, thank you so much for choosing these recipes and for allowing us the creativity to choose different flavors. I just hope I can restrain myself until Saturday evening as I've promised these bars as dessert for friends who are coming over.. but then again if I just whip up another batch, who will be the wiser? ;)<br /><br />Pop on over <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/gluten-free-graham-crackers-and-nanaimo-bars">HERE</a> for the recipes for the grahams (gluten free and made with wheat flour versions) and the traditional Nanaimo bar recipes!<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-22598418290055507992010-01-15T06:46:00.005-05:002010-01-15T07:17:51.256-05:00January 15th? Nooo it was JUST the 13th!Okay so I can't win. I either am stressing to get a Daring Kitchen challenge done at the last minute, or I get it done way early and then something happens where I can't get to my lil blog to post on the damn reveal date. WTF?<br /><br />The January 2010 Daring Cooks' challenge was hosted by <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/users/cuppy">Cuppy</a> of <a href="http://recipes.cuppylicious.net/">Cuppylicious</a> and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.<br /><br />Huge apologies to Cuppy - I feel as if I have failed our host(s) miserably when I'm late to get a post up.. this wasn't intentional!<br /><br />And now I am seriously pressed for time - but the good news is, there was no disaster this month, so I really don't have a long post full of expletives and "whoa is me" whining. ;)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XfNfYKNT3lSA36oldlV29SLvGBqZLyf0jQ_co05ls0FSo_bzpCh5ezZwMW_35Ol-DBvLvb6dYdHh5WvuMN0AvWxrmMeFVvjr0JnGnjQhNkAhKAlzx6e27ugfc-70monTOOGyIg/s1600-h/Chicken+Satay+1-6-10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XfNfYKNT3lSA36oldlV29SLvGBqZLyf0jQ_co05ls0FSo_bzpCh5ezZwMW_35Ol-DBvLvb6dYdHh5WvuMN0AvWxrmMeFVvjr0JnGnjQhNkAhKAlzx6e27ugfc-70monTOOGyIg/s400/Chicken+Satay+1-6-10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426939056052559826" /></a><br />I made Chicken Satay using Cuppy's longer version marinade and it didn't even look remotely appetizing as I was transferring my chicken strips (breasts sliced into strips) from the bag of marinade to the broiling pan (grill was under 2 feet of snow..) all yellow and stuff. But I kept an open mind, Lord knows I've been happily surprised often in the past with these Daring Cooks challenges!<br /><br />I had made my peanut sauce earlier due to time constraints and was warming it up again, while the chicken was under the broiler, when it separated. I had a small pan of peanut solid and peanut oil. Ewww. I was very dismayed over it, but thanks to my experience of making buttercream 59 gajillion times, I decided not to panic and to just get out my trusty balloon whisk and start whisking. Luckily it all came together again - only now it was almost like peanut fudge, which isn't a bad thing - just something I wouldn't normally pair with chicken. ;) Thanks to the amazing support we receive on the private forums of the Daring Kitchen, my question of why it separated was answered by Robert of <a href="http://climbhighak.wordpress.com/">An Alaskan Cook's Exploration of Food and Technique</a> - and he thought that I had too much heat going on. And he was most likely right, I did have the heat up pretty high now that I think of it. Stupid on my part. <br /><br />Again, I persevered and continued on with dinner, making a batch of Basmati rice to go with. Once it was all done, yeah it still didn't look that great. My chicken was even more yellow and my sauce was no longer sauce-y. At this point, I could have binned it all and declared it a disaster, but I was HUNGRY dammit.<br /><br />So I plated, called Hubbs to the kitchen and got a giggle from the expression on his face. He was not amused. He must have been hungry too. hehehe I decided to take my dinner into my office so I could watch a movie (and mainly because I wasn't in the mood to hear him bitch about how awful the food was).<br /><br />Surprisingly.. this dinner was OUT OF THIS WORLD. I cannot express how much I LURVED it! Suffice to say that it's been well over a week since I've made <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/satay">Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce</a> and a day hasn't gone by that I haven't craved it. Unfortunately, Hubbs wasn't as impressed (most likely because he turns his nose up at any form of chicken. He'll eat it but not happily.) and that's the only reason I haven't cooked this dinner several times since my first taste. But my cravings will win soon - they ALWAYS do - and he'll just have to get over it. ;)<br /><br />I always thank our hosts at the end of my posts, but this time I really need to lay on the lurve. Cuppy jumped in when, at the last minute, our slated January host couldn't do it. Cuppy had NO TIME and yet she came up with a well written recipe and plan for all diets. This was a quick challenge, that was most gratefully received after the busy and hectic holidays and I now have a new favorite quick meal to throw together after a stressful day at work. And yes, this recipe has been "westernized" and is not an authentic Thai recipe, but it's delicious regardless. I seriously cannot wait to make it again! Thanks so much, Cuppy!! :)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-24133894947632155802009-12-24T09:19:00.018-05:002009-12-24T12:13:43.256-05:00'Tis The Season<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmP9pbKddaNJG4OeFKv1SYsGOKTSWVzKSWLJRS-EWRDtNEBF1Adu2nTtdIep-pbJxTM2ybVFUWbxGAo1-EiL6iebV83mWi36Uv6Wt8SNaxqix1laAIIRiNElZuhwkgzZWUQNiBGA/s1600-h/DSCN1427.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmP9pbKddaNJG4OeFKv1SYsGOKTSWVzKSWLJRS-EWRDtNEBF1Adu2nTtdIep-pbJxTM2ybVFUWbxGAo1-EiL6iebV83mWi36Uv6Wt8SNaxqix1laAIIRiNElZuhwkgzZWUQNiBGA/s320/DSCN1427.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418837938059149234" /></a>The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/users/verysmallanna">Anna</a> of <a href="http://verysmallanna.com/">Very Small Anna</a> and <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/users/y">Y</a> of <a href="http://blog.lemonpi.net/">Lemonpi</a>. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.<br /><br />I don't even know how to start. First I should make it clear that the following post is not meant to offend Anna or Y, our lovely hostesses this month. They had a great idea and lots of members really enjoyed themselves.. and that's terrific!! But let's face some facts here, shall we? <br /><ov><br /><li>The baking Gods already hate me with a white hot passion.</li><br /><li>I can barely dress myself, open an envelope without getting cut, or walk & chew gum at the same time. And I'm asked to erect a building made of cookie dough?</li><br /><li>The baking Gods already hate me with a white hot passion.</li><br /></ov>I went into this challenge with a positive attitude despite the obvious roadblocks in my way. I was kind of excited to decorate it.. went shopping and bought all kinds of neat candies and edible items to use. I even thought I would erect a split wood fence with pretzel sticks. Cute, huh? Mmm hmm..<br /><br />The first bad omen was my thumb is still pretty useless. So kneading the dough would be out of the question (and no, I can't knead with one hand - TRUST ME I need both hands to do just about anything :P ). When this happens, I call in my favorite Sous Chef, Hubbs. That morning before work, I left out all the ingredients for Y's dough recipe - with instructions for him to make the dough.<br /><br />When I got home that evening I opened the fridge to check the dough out and it was uhmm.. very very brown. Almost black. (bad omen No. 2) So I asked my Sous if he had run into any problems during the dough making. "Nope." was his reply. Okay, well I have only ever made ginger cookies in the past, never ginger "bread" so I thought maybe this is what it was suppose to look like.. maybe it'd lighten up after resting over night. I didn't have time to worry about it because we had grocery shopping to do.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVYaPZrN5-qPPZ-nRmnyMEs72ZsuyL-qPluqkBbGhAEJpdbbrRO5BCh6QhDmde-J-jxNVYtbzHWkfsPgILG6dfc0oSRyVNmRK5rpDQKjZqssizpmCaAX-Mum6yH7269IwipEIng/s1600-h/DSCN1422.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVYaPZrN5-qPPZ-nRmnyMEs72ZsuyL-qPluqkBbGhAEJpdbbrRO5BCh6QhDmde-J-jxNVYtbzHWkfsPgILG6dfc0oSRyVNmRK5rpDQKjZqssizpmCaAX-Mum6yH7269IwipEIng/s320/DSCN1422.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418849288703152162" /></a><br />Next morning... Nope that dough stayed black and turned rock hard. I took it out to come to room temp about 10 hours before I was going to roll it out - yeah yeah, I know. I wasn't thinking clearly. I had just woken up BEFORE the crack of dawn and the habit is for me to take what I'm going to need for dinner out of the freezer each morning before work. I was awake enough to realize it was Saturday and didn't need to take anything out, but not awake enough to realize that 10 hours was probably a lil too much for dough to come to room temp. But 3 hours and two cups of coffee later when I remembered I had taken it out way too early, it was still ROCK HARD. I used a chef's knife to stab it and then pull a chunk off - and I swear to the baby Jebus, the fakkin dough had age rings inside. You know, like a tree?? Like a petrified tree of gingerbread dough?? OHMYGOD.<br /><br />So I brought my slab of petrified gingerbread over to my husband and presented it to him. "Are you sure nothing went wrong yesterday?" "Nope." Now something obviously went wrong - but we'll never know what. "Well f*ck" I said to myself. "I've got 3 women and 1 tween coming over in a few short hours to make gingerbread houses (plural), what the f*ck am I suppose to do now?" (bad omen no. 3)<br /><br />Luckily, <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com">Recipezaar</a> came to my rescue. I needed a dough that I could make tout de suite that didn't need refrigerating. I actually found one! And it didn't sound half bad. So I immediately <strike>ran into the kitchen to get started on making the new dough</strike> felt relieved and decided it was time for a nap. DO NOT JUDGE. I'm very sleepy on Saturday mornings.. it's unfair that I get up while it's still dark outside on the weekends too. So I relish being able to go back to bed right around the time I'd normally be jumpin in the shower to go to the dungeon. It gives me pleasure. DO NOT DENY ME THAT!<br /><br />*crickets*<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nKZJJcqwUSPGWJgPxmXO60h67ZKoRQGAA5vSpauzNPSAqQvy9Y_4slWtpuh6MI5e8cpUX8GWZfZDntHVQOEvBaJSPs-QfJFyUtejJfuImslLAUM__L40vSKpnz1eCWSBeSzwAQ/s1600-h/DSCN1424.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nKZJJcqwUSPGWJgPxmXO60h67ZKoRQGAA5vSpauzNPSAqQvy9Y_4slWtpuh6MI5e8cpUX8GWZfZDntHVQOEvBaJSPs-QfJFyUtejJfuImslLAUM__L40vSKpnz1eCWSBeSzwAQ/s320/DSCN1424.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418849475458431282" /></a><br />Anyhoo.. yes, I went back to bed. (omen no. 4? or is this 5?) Normally my lil weekend naps last all of 2 hours.. rarely longer. Unless, of course, I'm expecting 3 women and 1 tween over to make 4 gingerbread houses + make them dinner. No, on those occasions I end up sleeping FIVE hours - after I woke up and looked at my clock, I shot outta the bed so fakkin fast that I forgot to throw the covers off first, which got tangled with my legs.. forcing me head first into the wall beside my bed. GAH. (bad omen no. fakk it, I'M DOOMED) <br /><br />So, 'kay.. do the math here kids. I took the original dough out 10 hours before I needed it. I checked it after 3 hours and realized it was petrified shite. I then slept for 5 hours. That equals 8 hours. Ten minus 8 equals HOLY FAH-REEG!! I'VE GOT 2 HOURS TO MAKE AND BAKE ENOUGH GINGERBREAD HOUSE PANELS FOR 4 HOUSES PLUS DINNER FOR 5 PEOPLE.<br /><br />BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!<br /><br />Okay I'll spare you the cursing and then slamming things when I found out that my Sous Chef used ALL OF THE GINGER in his petrified dough and didn't feel the need to tell me WHILE WE WERE GROCERY SHOPPING. Fast forward to 5 pm'ish when the gals arrived. I had JUST finished prepping dinner and I had managed to only make enough dough for ONE house. I figured I'd make more dough while we were eating dinner, but the gals all decided that one house would be plenty. Bless their cotton socks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRndy1jbSCaZVbfM5DC13M3Jr_lq4Ec-xTYVCQtBjG1em_O5FnseLrF7S5CdoUGCx9LPCmqG-ZG4Qf-9Bc_z3kljIOg_oTMCCjrOw_G4u2v8UV3PMqaxrmcE82LJOHk50T2fGNQw/s1600-h/DSCN1414.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRndy1jbSCaZVbfM5DC13M3Jr_lq4Ec-xTYVCQtBjG1em_O5FnseLrF7S5CdoUGCx9LPCmqG-ZG4Qf-9Bc_z3kljIOg_oTMCCjrOw_G4u2v8UV3PMqaxrmcE82LJOHk50T2fGNQw/s320/DSCN1414.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418838300694437490" /></a><br />After dinner we immediately started to erect our house. Keep in mind, there were 4 adult women working on this - and at one point, Hubbs joined in. We started with a side panel and the front panel and lots of royal icing. My panels had turned out wonkey after they baked, but that's what the icing was for, right? The first two panels seemed to stay together pretty well.. and then we moved on to the 3rd panel.. so this one wasn't as cooperative as the first two. No big deal. We'll just use some of the frosted mini-wheats that were for our roof shingles to prop up the inside of the walls. We got it under control. We're women. Hear us roar.<br /><br />Jebus.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuyhA2KfNGp9a9uV_6l12xIZZcSJYWpm_FkXh07-t9YArJ8Ohgr-ZzFfEqkla50NO9cuPLf6WhkFexzoxFs0u3ARltaqW_s9NGHJYyOG7Whn0B07EuRs6xePCpE5BTQ861XmpWw/s1600-h/DSCN1421.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuyhA2KfNGp9a9uV_6l12xIZZcSJYWpm_FkXh07-t9YArJ8Ohgr-ZzFfEqkla50NO9cuPLf6WhkFexzoxFs0u3ARltaqW_s9NGHJYyOG7Whn0B07EuRs6xePCpE5BTQ861XmpWw/s320/DSCN1421.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418838799788645634" /></a><br />While we did get all for sides of the house to stand straight up, when we put the roof on (already covered in shingles and 20 pounds of royal icing) it:<br /><br />1- Made the walls start to cave in a wee bit.<br />2- Kept sliding off because they were too heavy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDv3qVMdgM0QEfSIJ4xp11olnp9eOXMRWl6fkDGn7wuyHaXFwh_wPNPgWpo8fY2kcIwyXxY6Gvqgw1ad7REDAfiBSu1ElMU9rcF56o71_fAgQ0g3eVvMUTfYstZrDgAK6BqeGAA/s1600-h/DSCN1419.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDv3qVMdgM0QEfSIJ4xp11olnp9eOXMRWl6fkDGn7wuyHaXFwh_wPNPgWpo8fY2kcIwyXxY6Gvqgw1ad7REDAfiBSu1ElMU9rcF56o71_fAgQ0g3eVvMUTfYstZrDgAK6BqeGAA/s320/DSCN1419.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418839043810161682" /></a><br />So what do 4 intelligent women do in this kind of a situation? Why, they go get the blow dryer, of course! "We need to dry this icing out so the pieces parts will stay!" someone said. Yes, we made the Beavette stand there with the blow drier until the icing set up and stuck. Unfortunately, that never happened. Someone else said, "Dudes, the 14 layers of icing <em>below</em> the layer we're trying to dry has to dry first." And that was it for us. We'd been working on it for about 4 hours - not one decoration on it - and we gave up. We put a box over it and then stood their and discussed who was going to decorate it. They tried to put it all on me but I wouldn't have any of that shite. They started this with me, it was their rightful duty to accompany me on this gingerbread from hell journey. <br /><br />June and The Beavette said they'd be back the next day to decorate.. but something came up so it was cancelled. Next day, same thing - cancelled. Finally we managed to keep Thursday open and spent 2 fun hours (no really, I had fun!) decorating the house. I got one side, June got another, and The Beavette decorated the rest. I think it turned out really cute. But I still couldn't wait for it to be out of my house. So when we were done, I packed up the remaining 90 pounds of candy for The Beavette, found a box for the house and didn't give them a choice but to take it all with them. *grin*<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4Ci7262_d5OzOB0G0H-0LLWC3xWZ6h4MIbRNPBS68rTXhw5Ycyt8RIoTq-UvlrKAO4uWaw_rD_7qI2VgXohk9wVCIH8qd1RSI6nMhECFz91P3qmTs64cVLtKsRG1MXVIDbnZZQ/s1600-h/DSCN1425.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4Ci7262_d5OzOB0G0H-0LLWC3xWZ6h4MIbRNPBS68rTXhw5Ycyt8RIoTq-UvlrKAO4uWaw_rD_7qI2VgXohk9wVCIH8qd1RSI6nMhECFz91P3qmTs64cVLtKsRG1MXVIDbnZZQ/s320/DSCN1425.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418849744426901506" /></a><br />Many many thanks to my girls: Blimey, June, The Beavette, and Amy (we need a name for Amy!) for another fun filled night together.. can't wait for the next one - but NEVER AGAIN with the gingerbread. heheee!<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-75972727657506140022009-12-14T00:00:00.006-05:002009-12-14T00:00:00.292-05:00Daring Cooks December Challenge: Beef WellingtonBeef wrapped in mushrooms, wrapped in prosciutto, wrapped in a buttery, flaky crust. What could be better?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/users/junglefrog">Simone</a> of <a href="http://junglefrog-cooking.com/">Junglefrog Cooking</a>. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/">Good Food Online</a></span><br /><br />Well apparently.. I'm not the beef wrapped in mushrooms, wrapped in prosciutto, wrapped in a buttery, flaky crust kinda gal. This just didn't thrill me. Not only did I have HUGE problems with the pastry dough, but the final product just wasn't very "BOOYA" if yanno what I mean? Which kinda floors me, because okay - so the crust sucked, pick it off and eat the rest for crissakes, yes? But the Parma ham just got all greasy tucked in there.. the mushrooms were okay, but they were minced so kinda hard to enjoy them.. and the steak, although done perfectly and seasoned well.. just wasn't all that tasty. Did it all steam too much in it's pastry shell? Are my tasters off? I just don't know..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82iIjsLo-W3GKhIEnmZGOWqCGFHOnnV01TgHFAn43XfWAlyKTgwFhod-Cn9v_tarN1nzEi-7nt3OSzrvjiz8H6vtFGJE5KB9NAZniw0HjQv-jbQDa3f-8RL6QCnPo_T6N0xsQYw/s1600-h/12-6-09+%2812%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82iIjsLo-W3GKhIEnmZGOWqCGFHOnnV01TgHFAn43XfWAlyKTgwFhod-Cn9v_tarN1nzEi-7nt3OSzrvjiz8H6vtFGJE5KB9NAZniw0HjQv-jbQDa3f-8RL6QCnPo_T6N0xsQYw/s320/12-6-09+%2812%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414925588970759682" border="0" /></a><br />This is not to say that I am saddened by this month's challenge. I am always grateful to learn a new technique and recipe.. and a shortcrust pastry dough was something I'd never heard of before. And yes, I am grateful that I learned a new dough recipe, but this is one I won't be trying again. Gah. After we had dinner that night, I thought to myself that I MUST have screwed up - because, hey, that's what I do. Especially when it comes to baking and doughs, right? So I just sat on it for a day but it bugged the bejebus outta me, so I went back over the recipe and I know I didn't screw up.. but, I still ended up with uhmm.. cracker crumbs? Have a look!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ispCfXfvpro6qDZc_DR05-xmxQWPbRGVjFInuR2E-hSaex219gpp0iba0237C84kw3ypb0R_q6LT6XXqAcqR9tpEh-H73BS9FuQDCW-08PQLrVQkQR828UjK5mZCVt4FeioLXg/s1600-h/12-6-09+%286%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ispCfXfvpro6qDZc_DR05-xmxQWPbRGVjFInuR2E-hSaex219gpp0iba0237C84kw3ypb0R_q6LT6XXqAcqR9tpEh-H73BS9FuQDCW-08PQLrVQkQR828UjK5mZCVt4FeioLXg/s320/12-6-09+%286%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414920963880641714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Sorry for the poorly lit photos - but it gets dark here at like 9 in the morning! (okay well not that early, but way too fakkin early these days [5ish in the evening])</span></span><br /><br />See? Crumbly dry bad juju stuff. And this photo was taken after it had been wrapped in cling wrap and refrigerated for a few hours. I weighed my ingredients AND I even put in more water than called for! So yous guys tell me.. what. the. hell.?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmjhDshCkq1j75Jeg4lf8gEH9456nEZVJ_hyiSx4r0n0UuIvLBpiLzA189QbeJ9YXHTXg09sHExkYfiKZtfg8roN3R5aipRUpH05gxU3LWs1yeLsNlB9oeB7g4F4YC9dKcv4sWw/s1600-h/12-6-09+%285%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmjhDshCkq1j75Jeg4lf8gEH9456nEZVJ_hyiSx4r0n0UuIvLBpiLzA189QbeJ9YXHTXg09sHExkYfiKZtfg8roN3R5aipRUpH05gxU3LWs1yeLsNlB9oeB7g4F4YC9dKcv4sWw/s320/12-6-09+%285%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414925706598972082" border="0" /></a><br />Anyhoo.. I ended up having to smoosh more water in there to get it to come together and roll out.. and that did work.. but I assume having done that plus the extra kneading, didn't make for a flaky crusty outcome.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQhyphenhyphenwQnhBvp5HshJfrC3pCTloJ37XQhyphenhyphenUKl0gdpR7eJptk4E6YH1f5zN9kZIJlio7pfV2BX09kszbdIT-9LnnAJrbjnW6SJeYk6n9E02OYYrdeZSHBHCrkjgib46rcOuJtiZlwA/s1600-h/12-6-09+%289%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQhyphenhyphenwQnhBvp5HshJfrC3pCTloJ37XQhyphenhyphenUKl0gdpR7eJptk4E6YH1f5zN9kZIJlio7pfV2BX09kszbdIT-9LnnAJrbjnW6SJeYk6n9E02OYYrdeZSHBHCrkjgib46rcOuJtiZlwA/s320/12-6-09+%289%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414925856660577922" border="0" /></a><br />I also vented my dough to let the steam out.. but everything inside was still.. uhhh.. steamy. Maybe I'm just a grill or pan fry steak kinda gal? Maybe I like my beef crusty - as in crust from seasoning and a cast iron skillet or over a hot grill. I dunno.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hWXiIseqXIdz4UY6RNpUIlzo2ohn0oRv44dPIQcbbbwOhK0M1d55GeFlmVUqaPMHb4cPqmo-4Lo4qkDeREEqXbKynTqiDkVFMSQEQVRQ9MRY3XMPubQXLbIw-xL3t3_oP5kYNg/s1600-h/12-6-09+%2810%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hWXiIseqXIdz4UY6RNpUIlzo2ohn0oRv44dPIQcbbbwOhK0M1d55GeFlmVUqaPMHb4cPqmo-4Lo4qkDeREEqXbKynTqiDkVFMSQEQVRQ9MRY3XMPubQXLbIw-xL3t3_oP5kYNg/s320/12-6-09+%2810%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414925996914691858" border="0" /></a><br />I do know that lots of members had great luck with this and I have to say that the challenge was to make whatever filling we decided on, be it beef, salmon or another fish, vegetable, pork, chicken, you name it, wrapped in dough. We did not have to make the shortcrust pastry dough recipe that was given to us by Simone. We could have used store bought or another recipe for the crust.. so I do not count this as a failure. I did learn how to make wellington and maybe on some special (it'd have to be pretty damned spectacular) occasion I'll make it again with another dough recipe and maybe I'll really crust up that meat with lots more seasoning and leave the prosciutto out.. and maybe I'll like it a lot better.<br /><br />And before I end this.. I have to say one more thing.<br /><br />HERE'S A BIG F.U. TO TRADER JOE'S FOR DISCONTINUING THEIR PUFF PASTRY. BITE ME! YOU SUCK TRADER JOES' PERSON WHO DECIDES WHAT IS KEPT ON THE SHELVES AND WHAT ISN'T BUTTWAD. <br /><br />Course I'll still shop there.. cuz I love it.. but damn, it was the ONLY place where I live that I can get puff pastry made with REAL BUTTER and not disgusting shortening. *sigh* And please.. don't even tell me to make it myself. Have you ever read my Daring Baker posts?? I'd have better luck milking my own breasts, churning my mammary gland juices into butter using a bucket and a broom handle and then paying someone else to fold it into a dough 5000 times. GAH.<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-31100869605532301452009-12-08T04:27:00.006-05:002009-12-09T10:39:40.964-05:00Put to the "Challenge" with Butter!A while back the nice people at <a href="http://www.challengedairy.com/">Challenge Dairy</a> asked me if I'd be interested in tasting their butter and using it in a side dish recipe.<br /><br />Butter! As if I'd say no. Did I mention... butter? *slurp*<br /><br />Okay so right off the bat, I'm going to say that Challenge Dairy needs to start shipping their products across the country so us dwellers of the "Armpit of the Midwest" (Ohioans) can purchase at our local stores. This is NOT FAIR that we cannot at this time. That's right, Challenge Dairy.. you've been called out. Now ship me a truckload of this stuff because we fakkin' loved it. :)<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.challengedairy.com/products/">salted butter</a> that is. I have to be honest, I haven't even opened the "spreadable butter" yet. It's not you, Challenge Dairy, it's me. You see, I've got this thing about butter being called butter when it's made with oil. And frankly, if ya'll (and by ya'll, I mean those of you who buy "spreadable butter" to use right from the fridge) can't think ahead a few minutes and take your REAL CREAM butter outta the fridge to allow it to soften before you need it.. well, dammit you aren't true butter lovers. By God, I think Paula Deen just fainted at the thought of spreadable butter.<br /><br />Anyhoo.. I will try to get over my mental thing (1 of many) and give it a shot, and I'm sure it'll taste just fine.. but well.. oil. squick!<br /><br />Along with a pound of their salted butter and a container of the spreadable butter, Challenge Dairy also sent me some nice surprises! I received a bottle of <a href="http://www.spiceislands.com/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=0f8360f6-0d51-466f-b3fe-c1618583b9d0&CategoryId=e83bf8ba-df84-4d8f-a7ad-787310a61a58&Page=0&AlphaFilter=D">dill weed</a> and <a href="http://www.spiceislands.com/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=0263e87b-dc9f-4b0e-bd68-0c384fed18b8&CategoryId=e83bf8ba-df84-4d8f-a7ad-787310a61a58&Page=0&AlphaFilter=P">smoked paprika</a> from <a href="http://www.spiceislands.com/default.aspx">Spice Islands</a> along with a very cool <a href="http://www.oxo.com/OA_HTML/xxoxo_ibeCCtpOXOPrdDtl.jsp?section=10764&item=78318&minisite=10024&respid=53057">OXO Spice Keeper</a>. And to make my cooking efforts a little easier, they were also kind enough to send me a <a href="http://www.oxo.com/OA_HTML/xxoxo_ibeCCtpOXOPrdDtl.jsp?a=b&item=46620§ion=10052">whisk</a> - how did they know?? I've got a big balloon whisk that I love, but it's big - I've been looking for a smaller version and this one is perfect - thank you Challenge Dairy, Spice Islands and OXO! :)<br /><br />So what did I do with all of these items? Actually asking me what I didn't do with them would be an easier question. But I goofed big time in not photographing most of it, mainly because I used them for my Thanksgiving dinner. Between 14 recipes, and cleaning the house for guests.. well, my camera was put away after the first dish and I only photographed it because it was new. But that's okay because I've blogged about some of the recipes before. I used the butter in my <a href="http://llcskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/11/part-ii-of-fixins.html">stuffing</a>, the <a href="http://llcskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/11/part-iii-finale.html">gooey pumpkin butter cake</a> (just in the crust where you could taste it), my sweet potatoes, a new cauliflower dish. But the true test was the table butter that we used for our bread.<br /><br />Let me tell you, that was my favorite usage of this butter. Spread thickly (of course!) on a slice of fresh baked Italian bread and the rest of the meal wasn't as appetizing. I could have ate that whole damn loaf smothered in butter and been quite thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Seriously. This butter is very creamy, has just the right amount of salt and is basically The Bomb.<br /><br />Have I mentioned how cheated I feel that I can't buy this butter in my local grocery store? *sigh*<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCqILqWLRMfq0yobPTra_Tmff0jaQM-uFmIoKe5qvG8tPer2oHLKn_C_GeKk8znngc9-H3LMFjI0V-nJ2vnuyDuTqRB4idDTg2T4ihdJUbX_vGyBIrg3RCW9M2w-JpUVaYYS_1A/s1600-h/12-6-09+(3).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCqILqWLRMfq0yobPTra_Tmff0jaQM-uFmIoKe5qvG8tPer2oHLKn_C_GeKk8znngc9-H3LMFjI0V-nJ2vnuyDuTqRB4idDTg2T4ihdJUbX_vGyBIrg3RCW9M2w-JpUVaYYS_1A/s320/12-6-09+(3).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413260151989990546" /></a><br />The new cauliflower dish I tried was based on a recipe found on <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/">Recipezaar</a>, called <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/Roasted-Parmesan-Garlic-Cauliflower-59965">Roasted Parmesan Garlic Cauliflower</a> by <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/24386">Marie</a>. Of course I tweaked it towards my own tastes and the final dish was quite delicious. We'll be having this again. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBXqlveGi-TqzuKH4shLv-Gv7kF3UW-PQtdXZ0a9bfGdZ6qL-0mMyl8IncfaiQBDEbTg-XLlS3Vuxfz1I7qzxrgQm7M4hIowiOIz7LJ025kgiwxA9i44lFfdeL113KFClAZl1Kg/s1600-h/12-6-09+(11).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBXqlveGi-TqzuKH4shLv-Gv7kF3UW-PQtdXZ0a9bfGdZ6qL-0mMyl8IncfaiQBDEbTg-XLlS3Vuxfz1I7qzxrgQm7M4hIowiOIz7LJ025kgiwxA9i44lFfdeL113KFClAZl1Kg/s320/12-6-09+(11).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413261217103373922" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Roasted Romano Garlic Cauliflower</span><br /><br />1.5 TBS mashed roasted garlic<br />1.5 TBS olive oil<br />1/2 head cauliflower, separated in florets<br />1/3 c. grated Locatelli Romano cheese, divided<br />salt and black pepper<br />1/3 c. Panko<br />1/4 c. butter, softened<br />1 tsp. smoked paprika<br /><br />Preheat oven to 450º F.<br /><br />Fill a 3 quart pot with water, bring to a boil and then salt the water. Add the florets and cook for 5 minutes until they are JUST fork tender (try not to overcook)<br />Grease small 8" x 8" Pyrex baking dish.<br />Mix Panko crumbs and remaining Romano cheese together in small bowl, set aside.<br />Place olive oil, roasted garlic paste and 1/3 of the Romano cheese in large resealable bag. Add cauliflower and shake to mix.<br />Pour into prepared baking dish.<br />Season with salt and pepper, top with Panko & Romano mixture.<br />Place dabs of butter all over top. Sprinkle with smoked paprika.<br />Bake for 20 minutes.<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-12970155699062588172009-11-30T14:45:00.003-05:002009-12-03T06:22:26.688-05:00The Daring Kitchen 2009 Holiday Gift Guide is Here!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSI5pHbzj7MKFS2JGt3kiac8XDc76hsQ_0dbizOvzckAemdvhKEnX-HmYaY3GqaKg0iL-_vy6u395L3fpIrcCIUhq4bN8PEEy3TFVjCLrTlnJEi3eHqIyFGrBqUvACjULyN3Pzgw/s1600/dk.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 124px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSI5pHbzj7MKFS2JGt3kiac8XDc76hsQ_0dbizOvzckAemdvhKEnX-HmYaY3GqaKg0iL-_vy6u395L3fpIrcCIUhq4bN8PEEy3TFVjCLrTlnJEi3eHqIyFGrBqUvACjULyN3Pzgw/s400/dk.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409986260951224594" /></a>HEY! You three over there – yes, you! My last 3 readers!! Pass this along, will you? Mucho huge-o thanks!! ;)<br /><br />The Daring Kitchen 2009 Holiday Gift Guide! Featuring 100 hot, unique and affordable gifts for those hard-to-find-for people on your list!<br /><br />Several merchants in the top 20 items have given Daring Kitchen members a discount on either their merchandise or shipping.. can’t beat that! <br /><br />Click <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/food-talk/daring-kitchen-2009-holiday-gift-guide">HERE</a> to read all about it and to also download the guide in .pdf format. Oh yeah, we gotcha covered! ;)<br /><br />My friend, John, just posted this to his FB account. I had to share here to get us all in the Xmas spirit while we're online shopping! hehehehehehee!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Mk4woNRD7NQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Mk4woNRD7NQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />PS - I wouldn't drink any beverage while listening to this.. you might cause harm to your monitor and/or choke. ;) xoxo<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-38028411964106080992009-11-27T23:25:00.004-05:002009-11-28T00:19:08.872-05:00Holy Cannoli! It's Reveal Day!!!Zoinks.<br /><br />I haven't moved much today. Tripto-whatever is still kickin' it in my blood stream. Completely forgot it was reveal day. And then I remembered because I had to get the recipe up on the Daring Kitchen website.. and then I forgot about it again.. or more specifically, that I ALSO had to post on my own lil blog. <br /><br />DOH.<br /><br />The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of <a href="http://www.lisamichele.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives</a>. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book<br /><br />It's now 11:30 at night.. Neither of us, or the kids, have moved much from the sofa and love-seat today. I have drank what I believe to be 1/4th of Lake Erie since awakening this morning at 6:30 (I slept in! WOOOOO HOOO!). Unfakkinbelievably dry pipes today kids. WTF?<br /><br />If you've friended me on Facebook, you might have noticed how proud I was yesterday when I managed to cook 99.9% (my mom still makes the bird, bless her heart) of our Thanksgiving meal, INCLUDING the Daring Baker challenge, with 1 whole hour to spare before the family arrived. Keep in mind that I even whacked a few mobsters, planted a field of grapes, fed and then sold 1000's of fishes, and cooked two dishes eleventy billion times for my virtual cafe as well. Oh yes, yesterday was a BUSY day. Also? My Name is Lisa and I'm an FB games addict. *sigh*<br /><br />Here's what I DIDN'T DO - I didn't photograph my cutsie lil mini cannoli. Basically because as soon as they were filled, the vultures zoomed in and they were all GONE. I got ONE. I filled TWENTY. But fear not, you lovers of horrible photography! I saved 6 shells for W and I because I knew we'd want some today. :D<br /><br />But.. then.. I was wrong. We didn't want them today. When I brought them up to him, he went kinda green around the gills. Frankly, when I mentioned them, I got a lil nauseous myself. No! NO! Not because they were horrible - they were DELICIOUS - everyone declared they were the best cannoli they'd ever had. Seriously. It's just that we gorged so much yesterday that the thought of most food made us queasy today. I ate a handful of chips around noonish (washed 'em down with a gallon of water).. he had toast just before that.. and then I managed to make spaghetti tonight.. and I think we both ate maybe 8 strands before we fluffed up the pillows and sank down into our respective sofas again.<br /><br />I just came into my office to reply to a few emails and realized.. oh shit. I never posted. I blame that f'n bird, folks. I don't ever want to see another turkey for AT LEAST 11 months. :P<br /><br />Anyhoo.. nothing exciting (or chaos related) to say about this challenge.. pretty simple, except for the rolling of the dough - or should I call it, elasto-dough? I tried as much as I could with my puny muscles (which are being suffocated under all my fat) and the brace I am sporting on my right hand for the next two weeks! Are ya'll ready for this? Leave it to me. I swear to the baby Jebus, I am the only person I know who physically hurts herself IN HER SLEEP.<br /><br />My doc figures that's how I did it.. she says I must be gripping my hands in my sleep. Like a death grip on the blankets or something. I managed to cause scarring to the sheath that wraps around the tendons in my right palm and between the thumb and index finger. She called it "trigger finger". I guess this happens mostly to the index finger and not the thumb? Anyhoo.. the scarring on the sheath causes the tendon to stick when it's moved.. so when I bend my thumb at the first joint, it sticks and HURTS LIKE HELL. Gawd and there's this awful clicking sound when it finally releases and my thumb goes back to it's natural position. Squick!<br /><br />So yep.. rolling that dough was not going to happen by myself. So W stepped in, bless his cotton, reinforced toe, socks. The first few were too thick, so they were binned after frying.. but the rest were paper thin and blistered up nicely. I added a lil extra cinnamon to the dough and filled with a pumpkin/cream cheese filling that was divine. Frying was a cinch, since I'm the Frying Queen of NE Ohio. Oh and the only thing I did differently for me is that instead of makin' big honkin cannoli, I made minis because I figured no one would eat big ones since no one attending our Thanksgiving was really a fan of them (except me.. and I still only got ONE). <br /><br />Lis.. you did an amazing job as hostess.. and your recipe is THE cannoli recipe I will use from now on. I also loved the idea of cannopolitans and plan on making those in the future as well. Love ya, chickie! :)<br /><br />Photos will be added tomorrow.. it's now midnight and I must hit the sack, because God knows, I didn't get enough rest today. :P <br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-1838042457397061442009-11-16T06:36:00.010-05:002009-11-19T13:58:00.732-05:00The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JguCvO6C4CcJIB0GtPnryyam1CRnYAlIEii9SO5V7o4JixBqi19ZbQwaX24sMkHtQXM19XZQSjswJK-yt9C_AQRrvpNgDbfjSf_zfN6gQzB6dVtmxErWvwiiFhgFskDlN648bA/s1600/SteamyKitchenCookbookCover_em.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JguCvO6C4CcJIB0GtPnryyam1CRnYAlIEii9SO5V7o4JixBqi19ZbQwaX24sMkHtQXM19XZQSjswJK-yt9C_AQRrvpNgDbfjSf_zfN6gQzB6dVtmxErWvwiiFhgFskDlN648bA/s400/SteamyKitchenCookbookCover_em.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405890786020898466" /></a>Recently Jaden Hair of <a href="http://www.steamykitchen.com">Steamy Kitchen</a> published her first cookbook and I'm tickled pink to be able to share with ya'll how wonderful this book is. :)<br /><br />I received it a few weeks ago and have since made 5 recipes from it. Out of the 5 there was only 1 that didn't thrill us, but other than the Cooking Light cookbooks that I constantly cooked out of a few years back, and Dorie's Baking: From My Home to Yours, no other cookbook has given me consistent results until I started cooking from The Steamy Kitchen cookbook. Seriously.<br /><br />Jaden's recipes are easy to follow, and for people like us, who live in a pretty metro area, ingredients are not hard to find. I can see a few being hard to find for those who aren't lucky enough to have an Asian grocery near-by, but honestly most ingredients you can find in the ethnic aisles of your local mega-mart. Regardless though, those extra hard to find ingredients can be left out or substituted and I'm sure you'll still get great results.<br /><br />The photography is phenomenal. Each dish is styled so perfectly and makes you not only "want" to cook the recipe, but makes you NEED to cook it. The biggest bonus is each recipe, although looking and tasting as if you have to spend hours preparing it, can all be made in less than 1 hour. Again, for people like us, who are more than exhausted after each day of work, these recipes are a Godsend. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSVxJxDTWLRPbK3Exu-5Vt6r6KskIbvUTQQS8rZiOJglpuzZiF6bQ-BOBB3qTFuVYOyhmIL9gwM0NieG3lznMa6N0xpPHKM5SY3nEnOSW9kiO0uNUGzsYugWZKR_VsSi0nKUVAQ/s1600/IMG_3016.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSVxJxDTWLRPbK3Exu-5Vt6r6KskIbvUTQQS8rZiOJglpuzZiF6bQ-BOBB3qTFuVYOyhmIL9gwM0NieG3lznMa6N0xpPHKM5SY3nEnOSW9kiO0uNUGzsYugWZKR_VsSi0nKUVAQ/s320/IMG_3016.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405889446914645938" /></a>I'll start off with my absolute favorites and those were the Asian Style Brussels Sprouts on page 123. Holy Christmas. I could eat this side dish every day. Hubbs agreed. This simple dish was super easy to make, and it was like fancy for us! Who ever would have thought to shred wee Brussels spouts?? I felt like a giant grating huge heads of cabbage. :P No seriously, the flavor is amazing.. TRY IT!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTeuYjuNyFj5AQM2IX9yxu200QP3A8XfEpOYMQjt3kHnNQFaVQhyphenhyphent9qDEuQbzxNtRd0vB-9kpYsJNdzL4nWmCmSCovItQjEIz3CGdXb5y6ragezdtne559K46sc0J4Z8Yv8PhyphenhyphenA/s1600/IMG_2684.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTeuYjuNyFj5AQM2IX9yxu200QP3A8XfEpOYMQjt3kHnNQFaVQhyphenhyphent9qDEuQbzxNtRd0vB-9kpYsJNdzL4nWmCmSCovItQjEIz3CGdXb5y6ragezdtne559K46sc0J4Z8Yv8PhyphenhyphenA/s320/IMG_2684.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405889240339114226" /></a>Secondly is her Crab and Pork Wonton Noodle Soup on pgs. 60 & 61. Easily and unarguably my most favorite Wonton soup EVER. Hey, I'm an Italian who loves Asian food.. add extra noodles to an Asian dish and well, we've got a winner. The wontons were super easy to make.. they take a lil time, but once you make a whole batch, there are plenty left over to freeze. So the next time you've got a hankerin' for the stuff, all you have to do is drop them in the hot broth and cook until they're done. Another great thing, and this is just specifically for us because we have a great Asian grocery store not too far away - is that the egg noodles are sold in their freezer section and they are packaged into little "nests" about 5 to a bag.. so all I need to do is take out two noodle nests and drop them into the hot broth as well. The baby bok choy is another favorite. I think I like this green leafy vegetable in a soup even better than spinach. Add the green onions and yeah, the best wonton soup you can imagine. I just served this again to friends this past weekend at my sushi party and they LOVED it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTi_DYIij6h7L3NrgHq3YUnG92VB7bKV5IBH6aGjInRcKKZ6LCmsxGzN11L5iae5U-46rkH8ldWIx2WhfGDD1nQlFfsSTW19uvBGtS_AZazg-hPnW9VUX8xtSyZo9yXu7WQZklQ/s1600/IMG_2686.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTi_DYIij6h7L3NrgHq3YUnG92VB7bKV5IBH6aGjInRcKKZ6LCmsxGzN11L5iae5U-46rkH8ldWIx2WhfGDD1nQlFfsSTW19uvBGtS_AZazg-hPnW9VUX8xtSyZo9yXu7WQZklQ/s320/IMG_2686.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405889591337291538" /></a>Taking third place was Mom's Famous Crispy Eggrolls on pgs. 50 & 51. These are the exact kind of eggrolls that I enjoy the most. Not too fat, not too thin and crispedy with just a tiny chew towards the center when you bite into one. I fried and baked these eggrolls and they were equally delicious.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheI-VU9kxvUnCJViGuzoK5ls2PI63NIq1Tsjajd_ipBb3gLFfqlig3dQfcyE8C0PQ9JM52J-0Wu1sL5Mbeevph9txi6-IcD1zT4kJVx_SRehSmP1YeoZKyav_mX-MjFN9EkJYAaw/s1600/IMG_3057.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheI-VU9kxvUnCJViGuzoK5ls2PI63NIq1Tsjajd_ipBb3gLFfqlig3dQfcyE8C0PQ9JM52J-0Wu1sL5Mbeevph9txi6-IcD1zT4kJVx_SRehSmP1YeoZKyav_mX-MjFN9EkJYAaw/s320/IMG_3057.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405889881045394786" /></a>Fourth was the popular Garlic Butter Noodles on page 134. I didn't make this dish, my husband did. He decided to follow Jaden's suggestion of turning this simple side dish into a main course by adding shrimp. He did a great job cooking it and it was just what I needed that night (I had the sniffles). The garlic really came through, and it had that sweet/salty flavor that I love. For such a quick preparation for the shrimp - first you fry in butter, then take them out leaving as much butter as you can in the wok, then using that butter to saute the onions, garlic and noodles before adding the shrimp back in - the shrimp really took on the garlicky flavor and I thought were the perfect addition to an amazing noodle dish.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhTG0fwM_3DsYHMf3LbZd3Hhsg8vy41bvXY5B2L-hkBP6yJeswPj4hGVnSZ6sIuKEtviEEL5bI4MELFTnVb0SlnC82xBlYlrDSYVOoN3eYfUnXSZfFqp3vUJPEiB7-XBJZzN2rg/s1600/IMG_3019.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhTG0fwM_3DsYHMf3LbZd3Hhsg8vy41bvXY5B2L-hkBP6yJeswPj4hGVnSZ6sIuKEtviEEL5bI4MELFTnVb0SlnC82xBlYlrDSYVOoN3eYfUnXSZfFqp3vUJPEiB7-XBJZzN2rg/s320/IMG_3019.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405890152556083074" /></a>Finally, our least favorite was the Grilled Steak with Balsamic Teriyaki on page 90. First off we didn't have steak in the house that day. Instead of running out to buy one, I decided to try it on thick pork chops. I know pork is great with both balsamic and teriyaki, so I figured they'd be great in this sauce. We felt the sauce needed something else. Not sure exactly what.. maybe more garlic? Maybe rosemary or thyme? Something to give the sauce more oomph. The glaze was nice and thick and covered the meat well. We got the char on the chops that we love.. it was good, just not great. Course I served it with the Asian Style Brussels Sprouts, so I was still more than happy with the meal when it was all said and done. ;)<br /><br />A couple other features of the book I think should be mentioned is that Jaden took the time to add a Tools section. Each tool is given a description of why it's important to Asian cooking and just gave me another excuse to add gadgets onto my already long list of "must-haves". ;) The other section that I think is just brilliant, is "The Basics". Full of recipes for basic sauces, salts, pestos, pickles, and stock. She also includes step by step photo tutorials in this section, as well as a tutorial here and there in each recipe page throughout the book. Very helpful when you are so dang tired that text just isn't seeping through to your brain matter, if yanno what I mean? :)<br /><br />One last thing I want to mention is this.. the night I was sick, when Hubbs made the Garlic Shrimp Noodles? He told me that he had book marked about 20 recipes he wants to try. Did you hear that people? I'm going to be on the receiving end of 20 recipes in the near future. That means I won't be lifting a finger. Hello? Now that's the mark of a great cookbook. ;)<br /><br />In a nutshell, if you buy this book and give it a good run through, sure you're going to end up running into a recipe here or there that doesn't do it for you. That's not unusual. What's unusual is finding so many recipes that are appealing, that you really, really like. And all of them are fast enough to make after a grueling day in the dungeon.. or with the kids.. or on the crew.. or even after a day of being lazy when even making dinner sounds like too much effort. Open this book and you'll find something that's quick, easy and delicious.<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-20455579293609621392009-11-15T18:15:00.006-05:002009-11-15T20:32:34.996-05:00Sushi!No disaster! Can you believe it?? Sushi.. I thought for sure I'd be crying in my Ebi. But no.. everything went beautifully and our sushi not only turned out very pretty, but muy delicioso! <br /><br />I had to wait until the 14th to make it as I had a couple friends over for a sushi making/movie watching party. Both gals were an absolute delight and we all really enjoyed making the sushi.<br /><br />Sushi making is very time consuming due to the prep work and because of this, it is assured that our favorite sushi place will not be losing our business. *grin* Well there's that and there's the fact that the sushi chef, Jonathan Hirsch, from our favorite sushi restaurant (<a href="http://thelurebistro.com">Lure Bistro</a> in Willoughby, Ohio) helped me to make this party a sucess for myself and my friends! He gave great advice and hooked me up with some excellent fish and a few tools of the trade to make sushi making much easier than I ever thought it could be. Well, let me rephrase that - BASIC sushi making is easy.. the kind of sushi that looks like art work, well that's a whole different story. I could never put out sushi plates that look as beautiful as Jonathan's - and I'll tell you why I know this...<br /><br />The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of <a href="http://audaxartifex.blogspot.com">Audax Artifex</a> and Rose of <a href="http://bitemekitchen.blogspot.com">The Bite Me Kitchen</a>. They chose sushi as the challenge. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8A4pDk_KK_zoy7LNC7_5tGN9fDwCdgXYbvvzshpfrekgbscIz800R_SJavnq8HVbO3iVCZq_iX6_SdvXAKLaHGb4PwlGZsnOw0R9V2J2AfLiwptiNDmlI5pE2MvrVLptr1Uk_Cw/s1600-h/IMG_3063.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8A4pDk_KK_zoy7LNC7_5tGN9fDwCdgXYbvvzshpfrekgbscIz800R_SJavnq8HVbO3iVCZq_iX6_SdvXAKLaHGb4PwlGZsnOw0R9V2J2AfLiwptiNDmlI5pE2MvrVLptr1Uk_Cw/s320/IMG_3063.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404507246888856370" /></a><br />I watched a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQZGRohVNFQ">video</a> that Audax and Rose gave us the link to. It was of a pretty basic dragon roll, but what I was most interested in was how sushi chefs get the avocado to lay so perfectly on top of the roll. This video really illustrated how it's done and it's the method I used - which turned out perfectly. I was so excited! The next step was to cut the dragon roll and then plate it and decorate it. That part didn't go so well. We chose to use tempura shrimp in our dragon roll because none of us like eel. Well, even though I was using a sharp knife, when it hit the harder tempura shrimp, I over compensated by pushing the knife down to break through it (not that it was rock hard, just harder than avocado, rice, tuna and cucumber) and that ended up squishing my beautiful roll and the delicate avocada squished off and all over the place. Gah.<br /><br />This happened after 4 hours of prep (we also had tempura sweet potato to munch on - YUM! and I made Jaden's Pork and Crab Wonton soup again) and ya'll know me.. I was f'n starving, tired, and annoyed. So I didn't even bother decorating it. :P<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM12KUlGPG8xA6NStoF8X7kAq37IDGkDm4tFxFZafCVxKCphyKA1iKoztmhQ5LWGnddSX7cT69iRkHA3EpePti1rEIrFFoW7hoECu8jCmRh0DM54h9QjZik8NV4ozL0VGtH8jeQ/s1600-h/IMG_3064.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM12KUlGPG8xA6NStoF8X7kAq37IDGkDm4tFxFZafCVxKCphyKA1iKoztmhQ5LWGnddSX7cT69iRkHA3EpePti1rEIrFFoW7hoECu8jCmRh0DM54h9QjZik8NV4ozL0VGtH8jeQ/s320/IMG_3064.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404507488326333922" /></a><br />Mindy made gorgeous spiral rolls and Amy excelled at the Nigiri. All in all it was a most fabulous evening and we were all super impressed with our mad sushi making skilz that we didn't even know we had! Thanks Audax & Rose! It was one of the best challenges yet! And thanks Jonathan!! You made a daunting task, so much more accessible and fun! <br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-37679300647334904612009-11-08T07:16:00.003-05:002009-11-08T07:23:12.289-05:00Drop In and Decorate!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9q3Dks-DJpiLQ6m56frK5LHVmi3sNld9yf7k2LCtOGajw5RM5dC3lL8BDZ-nq_WlkZ2jJH3BVKzub8FFxLzQ9Xrz7kQEyp3gToOhjfWV5gbEkH2BLkeXtYhNQkpYfOzRqCNU4g/s1600-h/drop+in+and+decorate.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 131px; height: 70px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9q3Dks-DJpiLQ6m56frK5LHVmi3sNld9yf7k2LCtOGajw5RM5dC3lL8BDZ-nq_WlkZ2jJH3BVKzub8FFxLzQ9Xrz7kQEyp3gToOhjfWV5gbEkH2BLkeXtYhNQkpYfOzRqCNU4g/s320/drop+in+and+decorate.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401707207541386658" /></a><a href="http://www.dropinanddecorate.org/">Drop In & Decorate</a> is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.<br /> <br />Founded by food writer Lydia Walshin of <a href="www.theperfectpantry.com">The Perfect Pantry</a><br /> <br />The idea behind Drop In & Decorate is simple: bake some cookies; gather a group of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, your worship group or book group to decorate the cookies together; donate the cookies to a nonprofit agency serving basic human needs in your own community.<br /> <br />It’s a simple idea in a complicated world, and something anyone can do.<br /> <br />If you’d like to host your own <a href="http://www.dropinanddecorate.org/">Drop In & Decorate</a>® event, Pillsbury and Wilton would like to help.<br /> <br />Pillsbury has donated 50 VIP coupons, worth $3.00 each, off any Pillsbury product -- including sugar cookie mix, icing and flour -- to be distributed, first come, first served, while supply lasts, to anyone who plans to host a Drop In & Decorate event (max. 5 coupons per person). And we'll include a Comfort Grip cookie cutter, donated by Wilton, while our supply lasts.<br /> <br />Write to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com for more info on how to get your free coupons and cookie cutters.<br /><br />This is a fun and wonderful event.. I hope ya'll can participate! :)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-23438180008303885792009-11-05T08:40:00.004-05:002009-11-05T08:53:47.428-05:00Wanna Go To NYC For A Few Days?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRnFYxy4fgcmBbkJk42RG7_VuQR9eHYd9L8v0HDJvU4KVnS3D99kFk8uCDaa6EGTx105imfAHXYUkCyrdh0JQPK23WEMmssNLcBcfI1a2sFF_yAsBTH-xpw_ce97ut3RNZbOzqw/s1600-h/dk-ny_banner.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRnFYxy4fgcmBbkJk42RG7_VuQR9eHYd9L8v0HDJvU4KVnS3D99kFk8uCDaa6EGTx105imfAHXYUkCyrdh0JQPK23WEMmssNLcBcfI1a2sFF_yAsBTH-xpw_ce97ut3RNZbOzqw/s320/dk-ny_banner.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400616778854301730" /></a>I've been meaning to do this FOREVER and thanks to a cup of espresso with a second shot of espresso in espresso flavor, I have the wits about me this morning to let all of my 4 readers, and anyone who mistakenly happens by, that The Daring Kitchen is co-hosting a most excellent cake decorating challenge!<br /><br />You've got until midnight of November 9, 2009 (eastern standard time) to decorate a 9" cake in whatever Autumn means to you. You can use any shape of cake, as long as it's 9 inches. You CANNOT sculpt or add additional size cakes. You CAN slice layers and fill them to get more height. All decorations MUST BE EDIBLE. <br /><br />For full details check out the <a href="<br />http://thedaringkitchen.com/daring-kitchen-cake-decorating-challenge">announcement on the Daring Kitchen</a>. Once you've made your cake, to submit it you must go to our public forum entitled "<a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/forums/daring-nycc-cake-competition/submissions-daring-nycc-cake-competition-here">Daring-NYCC Cake Competition</a>" and upload a photo of your naked cake, a photo of the decorating process mid-through, and finally a photo of your finished cake with a brief description about how you went about making it.<br /><br />I know I've wait way too long to let readers here know, and I do apologize.. but there are still 4 more days to enter, so get decorating kids!!! :)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-31411118945000372092009-10-26T19:31:00.012-04:002009-10-27T22:03:02.108-04:00What's the French Word for FAILURE?I SUCK.<br /><br />I am NOT a baker. I may be DARING. But screw that baker part. I'm a cook goddammit. <br /><br />I hate that I allowed this challenge to f*ck with my head. I over psyched myself from the beginning. I got scared. Over what??? A few egg whites, some nuts and sugar?? WHAT THE FUCK?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4trXMgaHkD2kIr_Cec3IbsTR7zn2jBYvLHvl5UJ_hAjgSnTg3vFq4oLVa83TZaGFRRCbZdC6vWg8ipqLA5sTyK0xS4kUquz023Bu0bIFhfr53ZC9VETp44Dd5hNWXdvmqF8FEA/s1600-h/IMG_3030.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4trXMgaHkD2kIr_Cec3IbsTR7zn2jBYvLHvl5UJ_hAjgSnTg3vFq4oLVa83TZaGFRRCbZdC6vWg8ipqLA5sTyK0xS4kUquz023Bu0bIFhfr53ZC9VETp44Dd5hNWXdvmqF8FEA/s320/IMG_3030.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397462564644503522" /></a><br />I watched an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bri6xnDBl9I">excellent video</a> on how to make macs about eleventy gabillion times. I read that damn forum and looked at photos for the entire month. I read and REREAD the recipe a 100 times. But nothing helped me. I was doomed from the start. <br /><br />The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.<br /><br />Ami, you know how smitten I am with you.. always have been, so please take no offense. But uhmm... Claudia? Claudia can bite my ass. I hated that recipe.. and it hated me back with a burning white heat of a 1000 suns. I didn't even take photos of it - and ya'll KNOW how much I love to embarrass myself. It was that bad. :(<br /><br />Yanno, this ain't my first rodeo. I made macs years ago with my <a href="http://www.mytartelette.com/">Guru</a>! The first time she came to visit. And although she did most of the work, she taught me well - she showed me the correct way to fold. She showed me how to grind the nuts and the sugar. But, that was a long time ago, and even if she hadn't done most of the work herself, if I had done it all.. I still would have been just as lost this time. It was just too long ago.<br /><br />But I was inspired by ya'll. Like I am every month. I knew the exact flavors I wanted to make and I was ready to DO THIS again. On the few days I was home on vacation, I woke saying "Today I make macarons!" And I knew which recipe I wanted to try next.. but then I'd find an excuse not to torture myself and I wouldn't make them.<br /><br />So, obviously, yesterday was my DO OR DIE day. Actually Sunday was, but I ended up taking an improptu nap. Hey, it was the last day of my vacation - DO NOT JUDGE ME.<br /><br />After a chat with my sister, <a href="http://kitchenmusings.com/">Veronica</a>.. who makes the <a href="http://petitesbouchees.com/">dreamiest macarons</a>, I felt like I could not only make her recipe, but end up with 48 perfect macaron shells. It was her video that I watched over and over again, her voice I listened to.. her technique I felt I could replicate. Yeah. No. Another failure, but by far, not as epic as the first try.<br /><br />I know exactly where I screwed up. I knew exactly <em>when</em> I screwed up. It's all about the f'n "magma". I overbeat this batter. Frankly, this batter had every right to report me to the authorities and take a bed at the nearest women's shelter. Seriously. My "magma" turned out more like a slightly thick version of muddy river water in like a nano-second. Oh it flowed alright.. but nothing, including several hundred bags of sand, was going to keep this stuff in place.<br /><br />I decided to look upon them as if they were "multi-tasking". After I piped several circles, I watched them splooge into each other. But at that point, after I wiped away a renegade tear from my cheek and then sucked down a few glugs of a bottle of Jack Daniels we keep in the house for guests.. I turned my back on my over beaten and abused macarons. I left them to splooge and "dry" at the same time. I threw up my hands and screamed "UNCLE" (but it was more like "<a title="Can you name the movie this is from? :D">YOU FAH-HAUL-AKIN IZEHOLES</a>"). I fully expected to return in 40 minutes and find one giant rectangular mac, threatening to escape the sides of the jelly-roll pan it rested on. <br /><br />During that 40 minutes, I pondered how this could have happened. What amazes me is how many times I sucked in that video. I knew I was going to stop beating the batter at the exact right time (Magma time!) because I had watched the video so much that surely by <em>osmosis alone</em>, I would know when. <br /><br />OHMYGOD don't even get me started on the 2nd panic attack when my nuts wouldn't grind down small enough. I was so careful! I ground, I sifted, I ground some more, I sifted some more.. and I still ended up with 107 (ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN) grams of almonds that were way too chunky. Finally, I called Veron back.. "what do I do??" I said between a hiccup and another slurp of my new best friend, Jack. She suggested I grind them in small batches in my coffee grinder. Bless her. That worked. <br /><br />I also ground down the Canadian Vanilla Maple tea I used to hopefully get a good maple flavor in the shells. I ground down what was already miniscule pieces parts of tea and natural and/or artifical flavors into powder, for crissakes!!! And the top of my wee coffee grinder has a hole in the plastic, so I had to keep the palm of my hand slammed down on it and regardless of how long I waited for the contents to settle back down, I still inhaled a tiny poof of powdered vanilla maple tea! That stuff could have been asbestos laden - but I took one for the team so my maple flavored macs with cream cheese and BACON filling would be THE BOMB.<br /><br />So as I'm replaying all of these extra steps I took to make sure my macs would come out beautifully.. it all came down to one stroke. One paddle of the pud too many. Over confidence at it's finest. I left my zen place and lost my concentration and that one extra stroke of my spatula turned all of my hard work into... muddy river water.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjle2CJQRpqRvDgMQ66itb44zg9pmfun2ty1eEfKlJR4aaV2yxDAEn4MXFnzDIg-Wc2JBzHzGpEF5Lc5t_Ouz7HmFP2arm32vbcvBPQ4fKwm-RwIYdB2T1NZGFdXi4scpk95CBh1w/s1600-h/IMG_3037.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjle2CJQRpqRvDgMQ66itb44zg9pmfun2ty1eEfKlJR4aaV2yxDAEn4MXFnzDIg-Wc2JBzHzGpEF5Lc5t_Ouz7HmFP2arm32vbcvBPQ4fKwm-RwIYdB2T1NZGFdXi4scpk95CBh1w/s320/IMG_3037.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397461410814895826" /></a><br />And here is what I got for my efforts.. they've got feet alright. But barely breathe on one and you'll watch it implode. The first batch wasn't baked long enough, so they ended up being a huge mass of tissue thin crackly crust and ooey gooey innards that stuck to anything they touched. I now know what to do if I can't find the super glue when I need it. No running to the store, I'll just underbake a batch of macarons! You could build a bridge with that stuff! <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX32uTZyvCa3J9hh_tjMeotinA6Hr2V0VsymHLxIVQ6gUqfNQx2JleFqU-g8OgU9knSosonvZ1m4qRaE-9vul0wo6jVLJJaHNHDKMdu8ZEWPzS4AlIwkTwn3OU8IogactXXRIVw/s1600-h/IMG_3029.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX32uTZyvCa3J9hh_tjMeotinA6Hr2V0VsymHLxIVQ6gUqfNQx2JleFqU-g8OgU9knSosonvZ1m4qRaE-9vul0wo6jVLJJaHNHDKMdu8ZEWPzS4AlIwkTwn3OU8IogactXXRIVw/s320/IMG_3029.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397461840429956002" /></a><br />You'll also notice that apparently, I can pipe a perfect Thresher Shark, but cannot pipe a simple circle to save my life.<br /><br />The 2nd batch was a bit better.. I baked them for a few minutes longer and they popped right off the paper, but they were still really thin and the tops crack really easily.. like move your finger 1/16th of an inch over them and they crack.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdaS37dpApWIwa99FCHdX2LtIeBu3_4rv8ggqPJE3b91vhXzUSMwSIKPNhN1kktDhtaCuwz4kHxFL7nlFXdl2GUcP1qx1MY5dJqJ6qDjCBR2kQynHl-92QqU2qTdGOtc_Q7fosg/s1600-h/IMG_3034.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdaS37dpApWIwa99FCHdX2LtIeBu3_4rv8ggqPJE3b91vhXzUSMwSIKPNhN1kktDhtaCuwz4kHxFL7nlFXdl2GUcP1qx1MY5dJqJ6qDjCBR2kQynHl-92QqU2qTdGOtc_Q7fosg/s320/IMG_3034.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397462070790060338" /></a><br />Oh and they don't taste of maple. Not in the slightest. They are just nutty and sweet. Just like their maker! If you can compare batshit crazy and grumpy to nutty and sweet, that is. :P<br /><br />So I decided to flavor the cream cheese with maple syrup instead of powdered sugar. At first taste there was no maple, but after it sat in the fridge for a while, the maple finally came through - thank the baby Jebus. I added crumbled applewood smoked bacon to the mixture, leaving some out for "garnish" - cuz we all know how fancy pants I am. Some I just lightly brushed with maple syrup and sprinkled some extra bacon on top.. some I left plain.. and some I rolled the edges in bacon. Those, I think, were my favorite. At least, that's the only one I've actually tried and AT THE VERY LEAST I was RIGHT ON with the flavor combo. The filling wasn't too sweet since the cream cheese leaves you with a nice tang. And the bacon.. well.. I dunno, kids.. roll a fresh cat turd in bacon, and call me to dinner. You just can't go wrong with crispedy bacon.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnP_cGY06MyNMv0Sr7L22vX5vQT8yJfBv58pfCWYpOa2bBed1sBVC1MwmcTlLhcfvJq57Qc59zdGXQFMA6ifZuQq8YLGgPw1zMvGKHpUO45Vb3YoYRhaPIIOu94r82CFTaWwApQ/s1600-h/IMG_3049.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 233px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnP_cGY06MyNMv0Sr7L22vX5vQT8yJfBv58pfCWYpOa2bBed1sBVC1MwmcTlLhcfvJq57Qc59zdGXQFMA6ifZuQq8YLGgPw1zMvGKHpUO45Vb3YoYRhaPIIOu94r82CFTaWwApQ/s320/IMG_3049.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397462310342460978" /></a><br />So there ya have it.. another long ass story of yet another catastrophe in my kitchen. But I'm semi-happy with them, if for the taste alone. And they've got feet. God bless them, they've got feet.<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-21109280062530153412009-10-14T19:10:00.016-04:002009-10-15T05:20:40.883-04:00What the Pho?I wonder how many blog entries will be titled that today? hehe<br /><br />So this morning I felt fanfarkingtastic. Tonight? Not so much. Lots of talk of flu and the cold weather setting in.. and hubbs doesn't feel good.. so I dunno if this is psychosomatic or if my wonderful husband has shared a germ with me.. but I feel like poo. So this is going to be short and sweet! :)<br /><br />The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog <a href="http://steamykitchen.com">Steamy Kitchen</a>. The recipes are from her new cookbook, <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/thedarkit-20/detail/0804840288">The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vZ7PmuEhUBBWphmgv9Dyegctggf9u1rnbmQHqV6F_7VYat0HgC2VAXrB7BW_REuCsdwTd0M10FVT5uhftL5bigxjyYo4Rcfc5cEtpLE0wg5MDwPgTaCaWvPdWMGhB3QzJjr5Ng/s1600-h/SteamyKitchenCookbookCover_em.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vZ7PmuEhUBBWphmgv9Dyegctggf9u1rnbmQHqV6F_7VYat0HgC2VAXrB7BW_REuCsdwTd0M10FVT5uhftL5bigxjyYo4Rcfc5cEtpLE0wg5MDwPgTaCaWvPdWMGhB3QzJjr5Ng/s320/SteamyKitchenCookbookCover_em.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392611542544059890" /></a><br />Ah-mazing. That's all I can say about this Vietnamese Beef Pho soup. I was a lil iffy with those spices.. anise and cinnamon in a savory beef soup? *shudder* But boy were my eyes opened after that first taste. I couldn't have been more surprised or more happy with the results.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsPRzjbWF63UKFeBKjyTU1WcpEOpQhOyJvccqW_MjsfV2zjlYa1fFsK_rgU5UUdYQDHMSQi2on37Q5aH_ETcrZ-xfpxT5s1eA120h8GTS9MVgZ98C3Q6NaZ7bQ38GoIQ0-Uw7Dw/s1600-h/IMG_3010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsPRzjbWF63UKFeBKjyTU1WcpEOpQhOyJvccqW_MjsfV2zjlYa1fFsK_rgU5UUdYQDHMSQi2on37Q5aH_ETcrZ-xfpxT5s1eA120h8GTS9MVgZ98C3Q6NaZ7bQ38GoIQ0-Uw7Dw/s320/IMG_3010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392608125769317730" /></a><br />I went with the long version of the <a href="http://steamykitchen.com/271-vietnamese-beef-noodle-soup-pho.html">Beef Pho</a> from Jaden's <a href="http://steamykitchen.com">Steamy Kitchen</a> because Hubbs had just made his world famous (not really) chicken noodle soup 2 days before. Jaden's quick version of Pho Ga, which is found in her brand spankin' new KICK ASS book, <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/thedarkit-20/detail/0804840288">The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight's Dinner</a> is on the menu next week while I am on VACATION! WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!! Actually quite a few of the recipes in her book are on the menu next week as I am reviewing it for this blog, so keep an eye out! :) (It will also be reviewed on <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com">The Daring Kitchen</a> TWICE! So look for those reviews too. ;)<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNYNrADbmGwSAu0uxJEBk2wTcs8ARktpyfKfGKLwTPQo7zpTm0_cqMnH9nmguVgi-e77kxJW85tOc42ZzyonQCuVHb9u-gUoEqDGw7bYlN5tvF5J1UNqTPpAVKeuT0PnGUJxxAQ/s1600-h/IMG_3003.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNYNrADbmGwSAu0uxJEBk2wTcs8ARktpyfKfGKLwTPQo7zpTm0_cqMnH9nmguVgi-e77kxJW85tOc42ZzyonQCuVHb9u-gUoEqDGw7bYlN5tvF5J1UNqTPpAVKeuT0PnGUJxxAQ/s200/IMG_3003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392611958655886626" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDBAMJt7yDjXldwAgvsgFq6fGo6-p4cN1dqal8D7sPmJTUClZOfEQtDAH359DeQHf6bY3slfAVC1TBMMzYEKN2mvAH9wrpNySt74JFgZilPG4oaKvgd1JvZwDORF1WTh9zglGNQ/s1600-h/IMG_3007.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDBAMJt7yDjXldwAgvsgFq6fGo6-p4cN1dqal8D7sPmJTUClZOfEQtDAH359DeQHf6bY3slfAVC1TBMMzYEKN2mvAH9wrpNySt74JFgZilPG4oaKvgd1JvZwDORF1WTh9zglGNQ/s200/IMG_3007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392612091537083810" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlOW8GKk7tse1ZQJiOH6-tG9KeJB6P859BO3nY9vu5qAkGKTIsRlpTY-oPFdIeghGsAiEybW-d_RgDHL3QptHs0DvRKCidxE4xJsI2f8c-m0OiSMjCzN7BpK3uv1Q4NzEXk2vcQ/s1600-h/IMG_3008.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlOW8GKk7tse1ZQJiOH6-tG9KeJB6P859BO3nY9vu5qAkGKTIsRlpTY-oPFdIeghGsAiEybW-d_RgDHL3QptHs0DvRKCidxE4xJsI2f8c-m0OiSMjCzN7BpK3uv1Q4NzEXk2vcQ/s200/IMG_3008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392612361163004546" /></a><br /><br />Anyhoo.. this month's challenge was about learning how to toast spices and how to make a KILLER stock. Both of which I'd never tackled in the kitchen before. That stock.. oh that stock.. so rich, so flavorful.. so freakin' delicious. Just the right amount of saltiness and beefiness. AND another weird ass thing was creating a bowl full of noodles, bean sprouts, thinly sliced red onions (chilies and cilantro too.. but we omitted because we didn't have any and I couldn't talk Mr. Chicken Soup Two Fakkin Days Before I'm Suppose To Cook Vietnamese Chicken Soup into running to the grocery store for me. Gah.) LIME and RAW BEEF. Seriously. I decided to use London Broil as it was on sale, and figured hell, if it's raw, it won't be tough right? I mean.. don't get me wrong.. I like my steak still mooing, but even rare is at least seared, yanno? This was raw as raw can be.. sliced thinly and laid on top of all the other ingredients.. then the broth was poured over and it "cooked" the beef. But it didn't cook it enough to make it tough as a well done London Broil will be.. nope, it was cooked just enough to take away the raw flavor but left it tender and amazingly flavorful. And the lime just added another incredible flavor layer that makes me wanna.. GAWD DAMN I WANT SOME RIGHT NOW. I'M SICK, I SHOULD HAVE SOME. SOMEONE MAKE ME SOME. PWEASE??? *sob*<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwY_YWSulnS6s8a0k2NmXKU7bEciQYWBtze0Pone7Btn7Jv0sq3wzUkl0YWp1O4CKavoW3dppC9DH1iwTFda7hl-NHLcZdgMHw98OFzHe7JefTZo8DeKNW_0Zqd7puXmVyGsing/s1600-h/IMG_3014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwY_YWSulnS6s8a0k2NmXKU7bEciQYWBtze0Pone7Btn7Jv0sq3wzUkl0YWp1O4CKavoW3dppC9DH1iwTFda7hl-NHLcZdgMHw98OFzHe7JefTZo8DeKNW_0Zqd7puXmVyGsing/s320/IMG_3014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392610896643283298" /></a><br />'kay well I might not really be sick and wasn't I suppose to keep this short?? Jebus.<br /><br />Alrighty then.. this recipe got a huge THUMBS UP from both of us. I have froze the remaining stock and can't wait to use it again. I am so looking forward to the quick version and then somewhere down the road I'm going to be roasting a chicken or two and will save the carcass to make the longer traditional Pho Ga, you can betcher sweet patootie. As a matter of fact, it's been decided that no longer will we be making our soups with store bought stock when it's SO SIMPLE MR. JENKINS to make it at home.<br /><br />Jaden, huge huge huge thank you for the time you gave all of us at <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com">The Daring Kitchen</a> this month. It was a pleasure seeing your smiling face in the forums and listening to you during the conference call. Thanks for so generously sharing these recipes and your new book (there's a contest.. 3 lucky winners will win a copy of Jaden's new book!) and we hope you stop by every once in a while and say HI! Oh yeah and once you've finished your 2nd book.. uhmm... we'll so test 'er out for ya again! :D<br /><br />Kids.. buy this book. It's filled with gorgeous photos and amazing recipes. Check out Jaden's blog for the traditional <a href="http://steamykitchen.com/271-vietnamese-beef-noodle-soup-pho.html">Beef Pho</a> recipe and the traditional <a href="http://steamykitchen.com/139-vietnamese-chicken-noodle-soup-pho-ga.html">Chicken Pho</a> recipe. Also, check out the <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com">The Daring Kitchen</a> for the <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/vietnamese-chicken-pho">Quick Chicken Pho</a> recipe.. something to tantalize you while you are waiting for your book to be delivered to your doorstep. ;)<br /><br />Oh and all of you Daring Cooks out there.. I'm not going to spill the beans right now.. but Jaden is going to be offering a new contest which will be announced in the private forums on Oct. 17th.. :D<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErPWhOJ5uuXRclPqFOLMOUvczwMgTavO-P4YyhRnc1t0hyDZ0-AVNP8LEoiyVvElIDNgqkzarMcgaL1Qedmf_70vtXwf4H1j49HmCAh-ase2Z_JPoTfXCWdBRpK8e77i6vCUCUA/s1600-h/DK-NYBanner1-330x130.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErPWhOJ5uuXRclPqFOLMOUvczwMgTavO-P4YyhRnc1t0hyDZ0-AVNP8LEoiyVvElIDNgqkzarMcgaL1Qedmf_70vtXwf4H1j49HmCAh-ase2Z_JPoTfXCWdBRpK8e77i6vCUCUA/s320/DK-NYBanner1-330x130.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392611133069251922" /></a>And before I leave this "short" post (BAHAHAHAHAHAA) I couldn't forgive myself if I didnt plug another AMAZING contest being hosted at <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com">The Daring Kitchen</a> from Oct. 10 to Nov. 9 - It's a cake decorating competition! The good folks at <a href="http://www.cakeconvention.com/">The New York Cake Convention</a> and <a href="http://www.usconfectionconnection.info/">The US Confection Connection</a> are giving away an all expenses paid trip for 2 to the NY Cake Convention Jan. 2 to the 5, 2010! That includes airfare, hotel accomodations, tickets to the convention and SO MUCH MORE. Check out the details <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/daring-kitchen-cake-decorating-challenge">HERE</a>. This contest is open to the public as well as our Daring Kitchen members. Enter! You've got nothing to lose and so much to gain! :)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-38793361255791561232009-09-27T16:45:00.004-04:002009-09-27T19:51:09.549-04:00Puff Schmuff<div align="left">Okay.. let's just call this Oh hell I don't know what to call it.<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Vgdz064UBoMW6NCaj_AfeAruhTt4co_wbAosxkatruiXw4EyaieaGA55ZW07zczbZTbsm7i0YYItuFv1kVd1lxTZygSUKCTt4g32LSssqN6Y7SEiQOHju31xC-TEzk0pD1T5Gw/s1600-h/lgshootingstars.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386293472168641602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Vgdz064UBoMW6NCaj_AfeAruhTt4co_wbAosxkatruiXw4EyaieaGA55ZW07zczbZTbsm7i0YYItuFv1kVd1lxTZygSUKCTt4g32LSssqN6Y7SEiQOHju31xC-TEzk0pD1T5Gw/s320/lgshootingstars.jpg" /> <p align="center"></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Meet my lopsided, falling over, super poofy shooting stars. Gah.</em><br /></p></span><p align="left">I'm covered in fakking flour, I have egg wash on my pants, my lips are burning because I figured "well maybe they'll taste good" before the lil bastards cooled off, and my heart is broken. I spent two days on these vols-au-vent thingies.<br /><br /><em>EEK! I forgot the important stuff during my initial ranting and raving!<br /><br />The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of <a href="http://awhiskandaspoon.wordpress.com/">a whisk and a spoon</a>. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.</em><br /><br />Continue on with the craziness...<br /><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k25d-HDRqnG1BHNuZpYWbySY7Rbhl1oumCjWWc_phJcPfE1M-4iSHvgtD4PbN4uBzZ_cAjb1D1RHc7X2-dNGCYmM4mKku7V9NQKE4ruFL_BB_JrGV5sSuGG5cWGw3uqqMHDOoA/s1600-h/palmierHAR.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386293697079247234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k25d-HDRqnG1BHNuZpYWbySY7Rbhl1oumCjWWc_phJcPfE1M-4iSHvgtD4PbN4uBzZ_cAjb1D1RHc7X2-dNGCYmM4mKku7V9NQKE4ruFL_BB_JrGV5sSuGG5cWGw3uqqMHDOoA/s320/palmierHAR.jpg" /></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> Palmier? BAHAHAHAA!</span></em></p><p><br />I stressed over the perfect fillings. I researched the perfect goat's cheese mousse. I squashed grapes for these things. And for what???<br /><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqM7gaUlRof6_HtLJKdkRAm8kf0da15eI64Vhgmb7XycCgA5mcFVOQCHAK8DYLX0BAA7pok5TChrf13xzpXM959Ca-i97UbHpdcyM6FBRBFGY1QQnXsSCHSiMrIrCOLJgvr0q4Q/s1600-h/IMG_2980.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386293878970517234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqM7gaUlRof6_HtLJKdkRAm8kf0da15eI64Vhgmb7XycCgA5mcFVOQCHAK8DYLX0BAA7pok5TChrf13xzpXM959Ca-i97UbHpdcyM6FBRBFGY1QQnXsSCHSiMrIrCOLJgvr0q4Q/s320/IMG_2980.jpg" /></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> Notice the burnt "shooting star" on the right?</span></em></p><p><br />EVEN I'M EMBARRASSED TO SHOW YOU PHOTOS! Me! The gal who thrives on making a total ass of herself on the internets for your reading pleasure!<br /><br />*sigh*<br /><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3W3yNZV35hI4AOyku3sMv5_aIYWCvMFjcpeKcBK3daeX5hZaRYGOFJXmVcO4HtKjPvZdmcfT0Eoc3BQbHFrEgySS0WYpGcuGKS6g7CJCZqBHDKxGeXMi95CiRVftjVLeCy1SwEg/s1600-h/IMG_2979.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386294073198359650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3W3yNZV35hI4AOyku3sMv5_aIYWCvMFjcpeKcBK3daeX5hZaRYGOFJXmVcO4HtKjPvZdmcfT0Eoc3BQbHFrEgySS0WYpGcuGKS6g7CJCZqBHDKxGeXMi95CiRVftjVLeCy1SwEg/s320/IMG_2979.jpg" /> <p align="center"></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">The chicken salad is placed ON THE SIDE because there were no INSIDES of these lil fakkers.</span></em><br /></p><p align="left">I had such high hopes. I still have one millimeter of a sliver of hope still.. but it's only like 1/8 inch high.. not "such high" as with the first batch. Everything was going so well.. SO WELL. I only had one tiny ooze of butter yesterday and that was on the first turn.. FIVE TURNS LATER and no oozing. I wanted to kiss my puff pastry dough because it was behaving SO WELL.<br /><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4XYQSCIrWr5ODVIaaqYe_ufsy-wK_AIE4ErGILXIJlT6132auEmwosGsVVJBKb-6WZonS2rjLjEN3rLkc4G2fgR_TSgg5Sl1J612bZg6xFuLd1mRwMH_NTHS1mjLZww-tKL7Yg/s1600-h/IMG_2982.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386294838201185010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4XYQSCIrWr5ODVIaaqYe_ufsy-wK_AIE4ErGILXIJlT6132auEmwosGsVVJBKb-6WZonS2rjLjEN3rLkc4G2fgR_TSgg5Sl1J612bZg6xFuLd1mRwMH_NTHS1mjLZww-tKL7Yg/s320/IMG_2982.jpg" /></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> Oh I had poofiness alright.. just not the centered properly. :P</span></em></p><p><br />And then the oven. That dirty bastage. It was not nice to my first batch which was supposed to be filled with the best tasting chicken salad EVER. But there's NOTHING to fill people! I docked! Apparently not deep enough.. but who the hell knew?? I did forget the silpat on top.. but seriously? How unforgiving a recipe to mock you just because you forget the silpat after doing everything else correctly???<br /><br />That puff pastry dough has some issues and it needs to see a therapist, tout de suite. And lemme tell you, that therapist will earn his/her money dealing with this dough. My oven needs to go too. Screw my oven. I keep her clean. I cook lovingly on top of her. There's NO NEED for this kind of behavior.<br /><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5kC_rLCiLeye3Vtc5z4CS5DzEJHcfNjDi-iU2yX70O8HllOawwB2xJgNG7BIc5nNJ2ovk5EWD1pqDPVLEA36BOP7hZ1IJi_856vA8h9w3qRQiYzXQApKgblBUbj7r0shIoKc9g/s1600-h/IMG_2981.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386294984918441042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5kC_rLCiLeye3Vtc5z4CS5DzEJHcfNjDi-iU2yX70O8HllOawwB2xJgNG7BIc5nNJ2ovk5EWD1pqDPVLEA36BOP7hZ1IJi_856vA8h9w3qRQiYzXQApKgblBUbj7r0shIoKc9g/s320/IMG_2981.jpg" /></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> It's like a star shaped accordion. :P</span></em></p><p><br />I'm spent, kids. I'm. Spent.<br /><br />Will post horrible photos later.. if I can talk my camera into not shutting it's lense in horror. If you happen to read this before I put my 2nd batch in (which is sitting, all shaped and stacked and egg washed in the fridge WITH A SILPAT ON TOP ALREADY), say a prayer for me. Please?<br /><br />Baking Gods I rue the day you were given uhhh.. Baking Godness Powers. May the fleas of a 1000 camels infest your flour-y armpits!<br /><br />:P~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />xoxo<br /><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIg1OiNUedAOkAl9kAxU52qMZ8CChdP9YyHcLHm8Tf_knvsW_HNkuRaaM4lIbiFZhyphenhyphenaRTQuljDsWHOu3saRJnXroTjxXP-2ntqGG7WkXvKw9Q49EJMcieclOVFkK4rPBR1yasIA/s1600-h/IMG_2995.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386294396563442610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIg1OiNUedAOkAl9kAxU52qMZ8CChdP9YyHcLHm8Tf_knvsW_HNkuRaaM4lIbiFZhyphenhyphenaRTQuljDsWHOu3saRJnXroTjxXP-2ntqGG7WkXvKw9Q49EJMcieclOVFkK4rPBR1yasIA/s320/IMG_2995.jpg" /></a><em><span style="font-size:78%;"> Okay well.. slightly tipsy, but look at that poof! And well.. it's not really bleeding.. that's a concord grape reduction. Ohh and I ended up not finding a goat's cheese mousse recipe that I liked, but I found an AWESOME goat's cheese custard recipe on David Lebovitz's site. Bless him. :D</span></em></p><p><br />***THIS JUST IN: 2nd batch is BEEE-U-TEEEFULLLLLLL!!!! it's all about the silpat. I'll be damned. Photos of these babies will definitely be added as soon as they are cool enough to fill. :D xoxox<br /><br /><em><strong>Okay so maybe I got a lil uhmm..</strong></em> frustrated before finishing. Oopsie. *grin* I haven't tried the goat's cheese custard & Concord grape reduction filled v-au-v's yet, but hubbs said they are fabulous. I did try the world's best chicken salad in a v-au-v and it was amazing. Eating the shell, just to taste it was very salty.. but you couldn't tell that with the fillings, thank goodness. :)<br /><br />Thanks so much <a href="http://awhiskandaspoon.wordpress.com/">Steph</a>! Even though I SPAZZED out, this was a great challenge and I'm glad I've now got puff pastry in my freezer! Yay! :) <br /><br />Now that ya'll have seen my trainwreck.. go check out the 1000's of Vols-au-Vents on the <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/bakers">Daring Baker's Blogroll</a><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23928317.post-61506795011193035882009-09-14T00:00:00.001-04:002009-09-14T00:00:04.230-04:00Daring Cooks' September 2009 - Indian DosasHey ya'll.. well talk about the last minute AGAIN. I kept putting this challenge off because of time restraints.. but come to find out, time wasn't even an issue. Every component was quick and simple to put together.<br /><br />To me this challenge was more about trying a cultural food I'd never had before. This wasn't much about learning a new technique in cooking. It was so simple that Hubbs joined in and between the two of us, we were done in less than an hour. I don't mean that he can only cook simple dishes, that's not true at all.. he's quite handy in the kitchen, bless his cotton reinforced toe tube socks. Actually he's a fantastic cook.. but he's an even better sous chef when I'm cooking. ;)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyO1YJ7dpcA8pS7I6Y7jOHzWUP30FMI6H95i3JToKDK7O7MaME2spQJYSAYYzGywiFApy4vGe9X2LtT_TJaA-jCwvf1kylJxtJbUAdzIndwHfFk5qQRIpjg-4d7M9eAz8nkmacBg/s1600-h/9-13-09.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyO1YJ7dpcA8pS7I6Y7jOHzWUP30FMI6H95i3JToKDK7O7MaME2spQJYSAYYzGywiFApy4vGe9X2LtT_TJaA-jCwvf1kylJxtJbUAdzIndwHfFk5qQRIpjg-4d7M9eAz8nkmacBg/s320/9-13-09.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381079262802165602" /></a><br />Never having ate Dosas before.. hell, never having ate Indian food before, I have nothing to compare this dish to. The flavors were very good, I enjoyed that aspect of it. It was the texture that kind of put me off. Although my "pancakes" were thin, they were still pretty spongy in texture. They reminded me of the pancakes that come with Mu Shu.. which I tried once and ended up eating the filling and not the pancakes - for the very same reason. hehe The filling, although we decided to not puree the chickpeas and instead mashed most of it and left some whole or partially whole, it was still too smooshy beany texture-wise for me. The coconut-curry sauce was delicious, but neither of us tasted coconut and we used a brand new can of coconut milk. Oh I should also mention, we halved the recipe but we followed it exactly, except for two things. We used all purpose flour instead of spelt and we used coconut milk in the pancakes instead of almond, rice or soy milk. Both changes were because of having to buy a large quantity of the ingredient for just a few tablespoons and/or less than a cup needed. In these times, it's almost a sin to waste anything.<br /><br />Now with all of my negativity - we can definitely say that's just me. Hubbs loved it. He ate several Dosas and says he'll bring the rest for lunch tomorrow. And he doesn't do leftovers, so go figger. ;) He said that he'll forego the pancakes and just bring flour tortillas with him to wrap around the filling, which he'll mix with the sauce. This makes me happy. I'm glad he enjoyed them so much.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVVtwDmBw0ifxoN5LO1YXodPW0y1CzErP2o1LaZ1H4Ot4nfze9GEYiVywvEXCz5ef5bz5R1bahRsaORR4U2Xid0ZXUHrAW33HWi5XByOvhydDxT0DZAaUZJSuVpyyb3U6mC31kIA/s1600-h/9-13-09+(1).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVVtwDmBw0ifxoN5LO1YXodPW0y1CzErP2o1LaZ1H4Ot4nfze9GEYiVywvEXCz5ef5bz5R1bahRsaORR4U2Xid0ZXUHrAW33HWi5XByOvhydDxT0DZAaUZJSuVpyyb3U6mC31kIA/s320/9-13-09+(1).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381079445850496850" /></a><br />This doesn't mean much, since this is only the second time I've cooked/baked Vegan.. but my eyes have definitely been opened. Again, without ever trying what I assume are traditional Indian Dosas made with animal products, the flavors in these Vegan Dosas were so enjoyable that I didn't miss butter (don't hate me, Paula!) or cow's milk.<br /><br />A great big Thank You to Debyi of <a href="http://www.healthyvegankitchen.com/">The Healthy Vegan Kitchen</a> for being a wonderful hostess and for turning many of us on to the pleasure of cooking Vegan. :)<br /><br />xoxoLishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05631520734280170415noreply@blogger.com19